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Controversy
In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a libel action brought forth by former English captain and legendary all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about ball-tampering and another article published in the Indian magazine, India Today. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after once admitting that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago.[10]
In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sus*** were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot."[11] Khan won the libel case, which the judge labeled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10-2 majority decision by the jury.[10]
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