Biggest Cricket Controversy: Get to know all about the Top 10 biggest and ugliest controversies to ever take place in the history of cricket.
Cricket has been one such sport which has been one of the most popular team games in the world. Often when high rush of adrenaline are concerned, it leads to players and officials making some of the ugliest mistakes which have led the shock the cricketing fanatics to their core.
Controversies in cricket in not an unfamiliar concept, but these 10 surely proved to be the most unexpected of them all.
Biggest Cricket Controversy: Top 10 Biggest Cricket Controversy in Cricket to Ever Take Place
10. Pakistan Spot Fixing in 2010
The incident that ended the careers of Pakistani Fast Bowler and then skipper cum Opener, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt. The Pakistan spot fixing fiasco involved Mohammad Amir and Asif bowling intentional no bowls during a test match against England at Oval in 2010.
When found out, Asif, Butt and Amir all faced 5 years ban which shocked the cricketing world to its core.
9. Monkeygate Controversy in 2008
When India traveled for their tour to Australia, it was the second test match in Sydney which was derived as the biggest controversy to happen in that particular year. Former Australian all-rounder Andre Symonds and Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh were involved in a spat were the latter called Symonds as a ‘Monkey’.
This led to ICC banning Harbhajan Singh from various tournaments both on an international as well as domestic level.
8. IPL Spot Fixing 2013
This incident ensured that the Indian premier League never remained the same again. In the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal of 2013, many big name celebrities were involved, from World Cup winner S.Sreesanth to Ajit Chandela to team owners who were caught red handed in spot fixing and betting.
Chennai Super Kings’ team owner Gurunath Mayappan and Rajasthan Royals’ team owner Raj Kundra were found guilty, which lead to the suspension of their respective teams for 2 years from the IPL.
7. Bob Woolmer’s Demise
When Pakistan lost to Ireland in the ICC Men’s World Cup, the entire world of cricket was in shock. Much to say, the Pakistan cricketers were themselves left speechless. However the incident which followed shocked every cricketing fanatic as Pakistan’s Coach, Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room.
Jamaican police carried out an investigation in this matter and said that he died of asphyxiation through strangulation. Yet there were some reports suggesting that he was murdered by a bookie.
6. Mob Attack in Jamshedpur 2002
When West Indies visited India for their tour in 2002, in an ODI game in Jamshedpur the visitors required just 12 runs to pull off an upset. This made the fans angry upon the performance of the home side. And as a result, members of the crowd decided to start throwing bottles on to the pitch, light fires in the stands and rip apart advertising boards.
Although West Indies was derived as the winner by DLS, fans and umpires were scared to their skims witnessing the crowd going mad.
5. England vs New Zealand 2019 World Cup Final
The 2019 ICC Men’s World Cup Final between New Zealand vs England was one of the most controversial final one could ever hope to witness. Starting with Kumar Dharmasena’s bizzare decision to give Ross Taylor out, which caused the visitors to lose their review, to Ben Stokes fetching a controversial boundary in the dying stages.
Not just that, the thin margin of the World Cup winner was derived by the confusion among the umpires gave England 6 runs instead of 5 which was ultimately the difference between the two teams if there was any.
4. Murder Accusation on Navjot Singh Sidhu
The former India opener was accused of murdering Patiala resident Gurnam Singh in 1988. Charges on Sidhu was proved right in 2006 and he was sentenced to jail for a period of 3 years.
Yet it was not the end of the tunnel for Sidhu as a lower court overturned the decision, citing that he should be punished under Section 304 II.
3. Australia’s SandPaper Controversy
One of the biggest controversy in modern-day cricket was Australia’s San Paper controversy against South Africa. The visiting team committed an unforgettable sin after Cameron Bancroft was spotted rubbing the ball against a sandpaper.
The consequences faced were harsh but fair as skipper Steve Smith and vice captain David Warner was involved in the fiasco and both were banned for a period of 1 year. While the culprit Bancroft was banned for 9 months.
2. South Africa 1992 World Cup Exit
With the ticket to final on the line, England locked horns against the favored South Africa in the semi-finals. The African team needed 22 runs off 13 balls with four wickets remaining but rain halted the play for 12 minutes.
The play resumed, scores were revised and South Africa needed 22 run of 1 ball.
This resulted helped ICC focus upon improving the modern-day rules and regulation so that no incident could further take place.
1. Ricky Ponting Becoming the Umpire in 2008
If Harbhajan Singh’s Monkeygate controversy was not enough in 2008, then Ricky Ponting ensured that the 2008 series between India vs Australia becomes one of the dirtiest ever. With a plethora of wrong decision being given in the favor of Australia, the worst was Sourav Ganguly’s wicket.
When the southpaw gave Ponting a chance on the slips, the ball had clearly touched the ground, yet Ponting became the umpire himself to state the verdict.
A year later, Harbhajan Singh stated that the then Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was the umpire himself as along with claiming the catches he was also pronouncing its verdicts in the entire test.