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Pakistan captain Waqar Younis Wednesday said the International Cricket Council (ICC) must show uniformity on laws and decide whether a match referee can take action on television footage.

"I had said this when I was penalised for ball tampering last year and I maintain this that how can a match referee take action when on field umpires had not reported anything wrong with the ball," Waqar said from Multan.

His reaction came after Sachin Tendulkar was handed a one- match suspended sentence and 75 per cent fine from his match fee. Ironically, both Tendulkar and Waqar made their debuts in the same Test in Karachi in the 1989-90.

The similarity in Waqar and Tendulkar's case was that the match referees took extreme actions on the basis of television footage and didn't consider the opinion of the men in white standing in the centre.

Waqar was fined 50 per cent of his match fee and suspension from one match on the 2000 tour of Sri Lanka.

"I did not see the footage but it could be anything from cleaning grass or dust from the ball. ICC must decide on that whether umpires are the sole authority to report the shape of the ball or match referee can also take decision. "I have been subjected to accusation of ball tampering but nothing was proved."

Waqar said picking the seam of the ball was very common in international cricket. "I think it's not an offence to pick the seam and things like that have been done for so many years in cricket."

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believed India had over- reacted on Tendulkar's suspension. "I think India has over- reacted, probably because their star player was involved," Akram.

Wasim, who faced barrage of ball tampering allegations along with Waqar on the 1992 tour of England, said the ICC had given all the powers to match referees and umpires so every team was bound to abide by them.

"Pakistani players Inzamam-ul Haq and Waqar Younis were handed suspensions but Pakistan never reacted like this. We have learned to take these things on the chin and I believe it is time that India also start take it gracefully rather than turn the incident into a circus," he said.

Inzamam was suspended for one match on showing dissent against an umpiring decision in the final of the tri-series at Lord's in June this year.

"I didn't see the footage but the referee must have taken a serious step only after finding something concrete."

Wasim dismissed India's accusation of racism as "absurd". "I have never come across racism on a cricket field in my 16- year career. Its part of India's over-reaction."

© Dawn