10 biggest cricket controversies of 2021

10. Ravi Shastri’s book launch event in London

When team India had decided to opt-out from playing the fifth Test match in Manchester, a lot of critics had blamed the head coach’s book launch event that had happened before the fourth Oval Test. After the book launch event, Ravi Shastri, fielding coach R Sridhar, bowling coach Bharath Arun and physio Nitin Patel were found infected during the Oval Test as they didn’t travel with the team during the fourth Test match that India won by 157 runs.

However recently to express his opinion on the controversially cancelled tour, Ravi Shastri said “At the Oval Test, you were climbing stairs used by 5,000 people. So to point a finger at a book launch? But I wasn’t worried because incubation probably takes weeks. There were about 250 people there and no one got COVID from that party.”

Even on turning out to be Covid-19 positive, Shastri opined that “I’ve not got it at my book launch because it was on the 31st (August) and I tested positive on 3 September. It can’t happen in three days. I think I got it in Leeds. England opened up on 19 July and suddenly the hotels were back, lifts were back. No restrictions.”

Overall though now the former head coach has cleaned the air with his remarks, the book launch event was also highly criticized by the BCCI especially for not taking any sort of permission to host.