The Guptas’ grip on Cricket South Africa was so firm in the mid-2000s that they managed to drag the Proteas to their hometown during one of the national team’s earlier tours to India.

Exclusive video footage obtained by News24 shows how current and former cricket stars such as Makhaya Ntini, AB de Villiers and Graeme Smith were paraded around Saharanpur – where Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta hail from – in the middle of the team’s tour to the subcontinent at the end of 2005.

The Proteas were paraded around town on horse-drawn carriages and were even made to wear traditional Indian headwear.