Step back and give them space: Sachin

"They are regretting and hurting and will have to live with the consequences of their act. Spare a thought for their families as they have much to endure along with the players. Time for all of us to take a step back and give them some space," Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle.

Cricket Australia have banned former skipper Smith and vice-captain David Warner from all international and domestic cricket for a year while Bancroft was exiled for nine months for their pre-meditated plan to tamper the ball by using sandpaper in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

As the ball tampering scandal continued to take its toll on Australian cricket, coach Darren Lehmann said he would quit from the post of the scandal-tainted team after the fourth and final Test of the ongoing series in South Africa.

This was soon after Smith fought back tears as he claimed full responsibility for the conspiracy that destroyed his reputation, while Warner and Bancroft also offered their apologies for the scandal that plunged Australian cricket into turmoil.

Tendulkar had on Wednesday tweeted, "Cricket has been known as a gentleman's game. It's a game that I believe should be played in the purest form and it's unaccpetable."