PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), Nov 20: India’s cricket tour of South Africa was in turmoil Tuesday following the sanctions taken against six Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar, for irregularities during the second Test here.

The fines and suspensions were announced by Gerald Majola, chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB), at a press conference at St Georges Park before the start of the fifth and final day.

Master batsman Tendulkar was fined 75 percent of his match fee and given a suspended one-match ban, valid until Dec 31 for interfering with the ball, while newcomer Virender Sehwag was fined 75 percent of his match fee.

Sehwag was also banned for one Test for showing dissent, attempting to intmidate the umpire and abusive language.

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly was given a suspended ban of one Test and two One-day Internationals for failing to control his players.

Three other players, Harbhajan Singh, Deep Dasgupta and Shiv Sunder Das, were fined 75 percent of their match fees and given suspended one-match bans for showing dissent and attempting to intimidate the umpire by charging.

Their ban was suspended until the end of January next year.

The suspension and fines by match referee, England’s Mike Denness has caused angry protests in the Indian camp, with the Indian media accusing him of being unfair and claiming a “conspiracy”.

Former Indian Test player Ravi Shastri, now a television commentator, asked: “If Mike Denness cannot answer questions, why is he here? We know what he looks like.”

Majola said Denness, a former England captain, was not allowed to answer questions in terms of an International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations.

Majola undertook to speak to Denness and said he might be able to give further details later.

Former South African Test bowler Pat Symcox said at the press conference there were rumours that the Indian cricket board was threatening to pull the Indian team out of the third Test but Majola said there had been no communication between the two boards.

Television pictures Sunday showed Tendulkar running his thumb down the seam of the ball while he was bowling.

There were heated appeals during the day but it was not clear who had reported the four players fined for excessive appealing and attempted intimidation.

The Johannesburg daily Business Day reported that local television production company, Trademark Television was accused by the Indian media of alerting Denness to Tendulkar’s transgressions before he saw the pictures himself.

However, the company’s co-director Mike Domaine denied this, saying the Indian media was trying to “make mischief.”

“We are not here to do the match referee’s job and to accuse us of... alerting him to the pictures is just ridiculous,” he told the paper.

Meanwhile, India should cancel their ongoing tour of South Africa, an Indian newspaper said Tuesday.

Reactions ranged from accusations of racial bias to indignation that the nation had been insulted.

The verdicts against Tendulkar, a demi-god in cricket-mad India, and the others horrified the media and officials alike.

“After the disgraceful, draconian action taken by match referee Mike Denness our team should return home immediately and to hell with the consequences,” the Mid-Day newspaper said in an editorial.

DENNESS EXPLANATION