When the players retreated to the cooler climes of their respective dressing rooms for the lunch break, at the MCA Stadium here on Friday, he walked out to the middle, dressed in black and a floppy hat.

That was Pandurang Salgaoncar, braving the mid-day sun at 69 years of age while instructing his army of men on the pitch rituals that needed to be done before the game resumed in the post-lunch session.

Perhaps, the scrutiny of the sun doesn’t trouble him as much as the scrutiny of the cricket world did two years back. Allegations of attempting to doctor the Pune pitch ahead of an India-New Zealand ODI were levelled against him following a sting operation.

The state association suspended him, the ICC began a probe, and in the end of it all, Salgaoncar emerged almost spotless. He did serve a suspension for failing to report the fixing approach to the ICC, but the allegations of him trying to tamper with the pitch were proven false.

Salgaoncar got his post back and, as is evident after the first two days of the ongoing India-South Africa second Test here, he has done a fine job of producing a wicket that has hold firm and earned the praise of rival captains as well as from the straight-talking Sunil Gavaskar.

Salgaoncar, once bitten twice shy, refuses to speak to mediapersons nowadays.

But the man who had suspended Salgaoncar from the MCA following the charges, former MCA president Abhay Apte, says that curator, who has donned many a hat, hasn’t lost any of his hard-earned respect despite the 2017 incident.

“It was a very tough time for him. I always held him as my elder brother, because we worked for the same organisation. But at that time, as an administrator, it was important that I take immediate steps, strong decisions. There should be zero tolerance if there is indiscipline or any such thing in cricket. That is the reason why we put him under suspension,” Apte told The Telegraph on the sidelines of the Test.

“There was a detailed inquiry conducted by the ICC and that cleared him of all the charges levelled against him. But all that he did in his life, in his long career, was ruined by those allegations,” Apte added.

Apte is also aware that the allegations rattled Salgaoncar mentally. “I remember once he messaged me saying that he was under much psychological stress when the ICC enquiry was still on. The media went to the extent of saying that Pune pitches were on sale. That affects you. So then I replied to him saying that we still had respect for him and that won’t diminish.”

The last time a Test was played in Pune, against Australia in early 2017, the pitch got a “poor” rating from the ICC. Because of that as well as the spice of controversy, the spotlight was firmly set on Salgaoncar this time.

But the old man has learnt his lessons. He prefers the sunlight to the spotlight these days. Apte said.