During India’s tour of England in 2011, VVS Laxman found himself at the centre of a bizarre controversy regarding his bat, after theories emerged that Vaseline had allegedly helped him bypass a Hot Spot nick.

England won the 2011 series comfortably, sweeping India 4-0 en route to becoming the No.1 ranked Test team in the world. During the second Test, though, a controversy arose at Trent Bridge when former England captain Michael Vaughan put out an innocuous tweet suggesting that Indian batter VVS Laxman may have applied Vaseline on the outside of his bat to prevent Hot Spot technology from picking up thin edges.

This was after England were convinced that Laxman had nicked a James Anderson delivery and reviewed when the decision was given not out when he was on 27 during the first session of play. Umpire Asad Rauf gave the decision in India’s favour, but captain Andrew Strauss was quick to refer to the third umpire.

Snicko showed a noise as the ball passed Laxman’s bat; however, Hot Spot did not show a mark, meaning Laxman remained not out. Kevin Pietersen was seen having an animated chat with Laxman on the field.

Later, Stuart Broad said that players in the England team felt that thin edges were not being detected on Hot Spot.

“Players feel Hot Spot sometimes doesn’t show faint edges. It’s a bit of a flaw,” stated Broad.

The Vaseline theory was then tested by the company who ran the technology – BBG Sports – who concluded that, “putting Vaseline on the side of a cricket bat has no discernible effect,” before adding that a player would have to add close to a centimetre before noticing any difference.

Has Vaseline on the outside edge saved the day for Laxman???

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 30, 2011

Broad also claimed that he had checked Laxman’s bat at the time to see if there had been any substances applied to its edges.

“I had a cheeky feel of the edge of his bat as the ball went past him. There was no Vaseline, no liquid there. It’s just that Hot Spot is not showing very faint edges,” he said.

However, Laxman disputed the entire account of events.

“It was ridiculous. First of all, I had never heard that batsmen could apply Vaseline,” he said. “I have heard bowlers using it [Vaseline] to shape the ball. I was quite surprised to hear that I used Vaseline on the bat. It is surprising that people can make a joke out of all this,” Laxman was quoted as saying, before further commenting on whether Broad had indeed checked his bat.

“No, Broad did not check my bat. I don’t know why he made such a comment. I am surprised that people are making stories out of everything,” Laxman said.

Vaughan, who endured considerable hate from fans on social media for the tweet, later put out another tweet that read: “I think their [sic] has been a slight over reaction to Vaseline gate… Taken to court!!!?? Sense of humour required for many I think…”

England would go on to win the Test convincingly by 319 runs, despite conceding a first-innings deficit of 67 after an Ian Bell century and a Tim Bresnan 90 took England to a commanding total of 544.