14 Shameful incidents that disgraced the game of cricket

Pakistani cricketer Salman Butt. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) 14 Shameful incidents that disgraced the game of cricket: Cricket is called the gentlemen’s game and we have witnessed on many occasions that it has lived up to this tag as well when cricketers have displayed tremendous level of sportsmanship and have played the game in right spirits. Respecting fellow cricketers and upholding high moral values are significant part of sportsmanship. But there have been times and moments as well when players have taken up erroneous paths to win games and have hence disgraced the game. Such shameful acts have also hurt the sentiments of the fellow cricketers as well as fans of the game who have deeply invested their raw emotions in the game. Today, we list 14 Shameful incidents that disgraced the game of cricket: 1. Underarm bowling: In 1981 in an ODI match between Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne, occurred the most villainous sporting moments of all time. The Black Caps needed 6 runs off the final ball to tie the match. The Australian skipper Greg Chappell instructed his teammate and brother Trevor Chappell to deliver an underarm ball so as to prevent the Kiwi Tail-ender Brian McKechnie from hitting the ball for a six. On this incident, the former Aussie all-rounder Keith Miller was quoted saying, “Yesterday one-day cricket died, and Greg Chappell should be buried with it” 2. Bodyline series: This series is epitomized as a blot on the face of the English cricketers who played the Ashes 1932/33. The Bodyline theory was put into force by the English skipper Douglas Jardine to stop Don Bradman from piling up big runs and in it the bowlers targeted the batsman’s body, on the line of the leg stump. It dented the spirit and was regarded as physically threatening up to an extent that the virtues and ideals of the Gentlemen’s game were sacrificed for winning. Later, several Laws of Cricket were changed to prevent this bizarre tactic from being repeated. 3. Javed Miandad and Lillee’s fight: Javed Miandad and Dennis Lillee were considered very brash cricketers. And when they clashed on the field, things turned horrendous. Lillee tried to bully Miandad and came in the batsman’s way knowingly and then there was a bit of collision. But things turned ugly when the Aussie pacer kicked Miandad’s flush on his thigh and then in anger the Pakistani batsman lifted his bat to strike Lillee. Somehow umpires calmed the things down. But yet this incident was a real disgrace to the game of cricket. 4. Ricky Ponting abusing Javagal Srinath: The Australian’s have been renowned for their imprudent behavior on the 22 yards. In a Test match between India and Australia, the Indian pacer Javagal Srinath bowled a ferocious bouncer which caused a lot of pain to Ponting. Srinath went up to him to inquire whether he was okay. But in reply, the former Aussie skipper hurled abuses at him and told him to back off right away. 5. Match-fixing scandals: (© Getty Images) Match-fixing incidents have defamed the gentleman’s game very badly. Till now, as many as 19 international players have served punishment or bans for their involvement in this shameful act. Saleem Malik of Pakistan was the first ever international cricketer to be banned from cricket for match-fixing in 2000. Some of the notable names who were or are banned for fixing allegations are Mohammed Azharuddin, Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Lou Vincent, Marlon Samuels, Mohammad Ashraful, Ajay Jadeja, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt. 6. Suraj Randiv purposely bowling no-ball: The Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv had deliberately bowled a no-ball to deny India’s Virender Sehwag century in a ODI match in 2010. The dashing Indian opener was batting on 99 and India needed one run for victory. Viru hit a six but it was not counted as one run from the no-ball had been already added to India’s score. Later, it was found that Randiv had bowled the no-ball deliberately on the suggestion of senior teammate Tillakaratne Dilshan. Randiv was banned for a match while Dilshan was fined. 7. Players claiming a dropped catch: There have been many incidents on the cricket field when the players have claimed a dropped catch which is exactly contrary to the spirit of the game. Rashid Latif had claimed a dropped catch which got exposed on TV replays and attracted him a 5-match ban. Similarly, the West Indies wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin was banned from ODIs as well as fined 100 per cent of his match fees after he had falsely claimed a catch against Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2013. 8. English players urinating on the cricket field: (source) The English team pulled off an extremely shameful act of urinating on the Oval ground after winning the Ashes 2013. They were drunk and celebrated the win by peeing all around the Oval wicket. It was reported that Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and James Anderson had got the nature’s call and decided to relieve themselves on the wicket. Later, they admitted and apologized for their blunder mistake. 9. World cup semi-final match suspended: Chasing a target of 252 runs, the Indian team was struggling on 120-8 in the semi-final match of World Cup 1996. The Indian fans at Eden Gardens were heart-broken on the miserable position of their team and started throwing bottles and fruits on the ground. The seats were also put to fire. The powerless match official made every possible effort to restart the match but unfortunately they couldn’t. In the end Sri Lanka was declared the winner of the match by default. It is considered as a disgraceful act in the history of cricket. 10. Gautam Gambhir’s collision with Watson and Afridi: Gautam Gambhir and Shane Watson were charged with “spirit of the game” offences after their fight in the Delhi Test match in 2008. Both of them were involved in many verbal fights and there was a time in the Test, when Gambhir was spotted shouldering Watson while taking run. Similar incident had happened in Kanpur ODI as well when there was a collision between Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi which looked deliberate as the duo were having repeated verbal duels. Both of them were fined after the match. 11 Monkey gate: (source) The Sydney Test match between Australia and India in 2008 is considered as one of the most controversial Test matches in the history of cricket. After the Test match, the Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with racial abuse as he had a heated tiff with Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds. At first, Harbhajan Singh was banned by the match referee for 3 Tests but later the charges were demoted to only using abusive language. As a result the ban was lifted. There was a time on that tour when the Indian team had threatened to leave the series in between, if the ban was pressed upon the off-spinner. 12. Michael Clarke’s collision with Tendulkar: In an ODI match between Australia and India in Commonwealth Bank Series, there was a havoc collision between Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Clarke. Clarke was trying to field the ball of his own bowling. But the most shameful thing was that the former Aussie skipper didn’t even apologize for his mistake to Sachin Tendulkar. 13. 3 Sri Lankans and 1 Indian getting banned: The series decider Test match between Sri Lanka and India had turned into a war of words as both the young teams were ready to take the fight to the hilt. Ishant Sharma had given face-off to various Sri Lankan players. But things turned ugly when there broke a fight between Dhammika Prasad and Ishant Sharma. Even Chandimal was seen making a physical contact with Ishant after their verbal duel. Later ICC had charged 3 Sri Lankans Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhammika Prasad along with Indian pacer Ishant Sharma for breaching the ICC players Code of Conduct. 14. Sunil Gavaskar almost forfeited a Test match: It is regarded as the most disgraceful moment in the otherwise spotless career of Indian great Sunil Gavaskar. This incident happened during 1981 Australia v India series. Gavaskar and the Indian team had faced lot of controversial decisions in the build up to this Test match. In this match, the little master was given out LBW by the umpire though Gavaskar was sure that he had edged the ball. The bowler Dennis Lillee infuriated him even further by pointing towards his pads. If that was not enough, he was even abused by some Australian players on his way back to the pavilion after which Gavaskar decided to walk off the field with his partner. He was stopped by the Indian team manager Shahid Durrani in between. Later, the little master regretted this as the biggest mistake of his career but it couldn’t stop millions from watching this incident.

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14 Shameful incidents that disgraced the game of cricket

14. Sunil Gavaskar almost forfeited a Test match:

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