40 Superstitions followed by Cricketers

40 Superstitions followed by Cricketers: Cricket is a die-hard game where every player walks on the field with the ultimate aim of glorifying their country on world stage. Why wouldn’t they? Representing your country is the biggest honor and gratified part of one’s lifetime. To increase the performance level, players don’t leave any stone unturned as they are even willing to opt to superstitious stuffs to hold the game in their favor. At least they think so, that’s why apart from working on various facets of the game, they don’t shy away from doing superstitious things which might seem unrealistic, bewildering or freakish to some but it forms an integral part of the self-belief of the players. Today, we bring you an exclusive list of 40 Superstitions followed by Cricketers: 1. Superstition of Left pad: Sachin Tendulkar was avidly superstitious and always used to put his left pad first before the right one for fluke. Similarly, Craig Evans, Bill Edrich and Sir Jack Hobbs always put their left pad ahead of the right. 2. Handkerchief superstition: (source) The fiery Australian Steve Waugh had a characteristic tendency of carrying a red handkerchief in his pocket gifted by his grandmother. The former Indian all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath maintained his blessed trick of having lucky red handkerchief in the pocket while Zaheer Khan always had a yellow handkerchief in his pocket in significant matches. Also Read – 9 Indian dressing room incidents – the closed door secrets 3. Change in Jersey number: Virender Sehwag. (Photo Source: AFP) It was a trick which Virender Sehwag played before the World Cup 2011 after consulting his numerologist. Viru decided to wear a numberless jersey which paid rich dividends for him while Umar Akmal, after enduring a horrendous run, changed his jersey to No. 3 from the regular 96 on the advice of his Pir (spiritual guru). 4. Sacred black Taweez: Mohammad Azharuddin. (Photo Source: AFP) Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharruddin sported black taweez in his neck and use to circle his head twice before taking the strike in the match apart from putting his taweez out of his jersey while batting. Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan have also donned black taweez. Virat Kohli also sported religious black thread in the past. 5. Kissing bat: (source) Mahela Jayawardene has a long held superstition of kissing his bat which he does more often than not. Another former cricketer Roshan Mahanama used to kiss the tip of his bat’s handle before every ball on a regular basis. 6. Love for Birthday number: MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: AFP) Yuvraj Singh was born on 12th December which Yuvi perceives as his lucky number and can be spotted at his jersey as well. Dhoni was born on 7th of seventh month, July, and wears no.7 Jersey whenever he plays as it’s a very-very special number which has always brought good luck for him. 7. Teams glued to a certain position: (Source) In the World Cup 1983 against Zimbabwe, when Kapil Dev started milking the bowlers, players were not allowed to move from their places for luck. Kris Srikkanth who was standing outside the dressing room on a cold, windy day couldn’t move from his place for the next two hours due to this, not even to attend the natures call. In 2002, when Kaif and Yuvraj started playing well, similar thing got replicated. 8. Supernatural magic of left foot and shoe: Dale Steyn. (© Getty Images) Dale Steyn always steps onto the field with his left foot first. This is his symbol action which he considers lucky for himself while Brett Lee always used to put on his left shoe first. Only god knows the magic of landing on the lucky left side. 9. Looking upwards: Krish Srikkanth and Hemu Adhikari use to look at the sun first while coming to bat. Similarly, Dale Steyn gazes at the sky when he steps on the field. Yusuf Pathan also looks at the sky and thinks of Allah before a match for strength and blessings. 10. Superstitions of bat and avoiding live action: Sunil Gavaskar. (Photo Source: Getty Images) In 2011 World Cup final, Sachin didn’t watch the final moments of the match for good fortune of the team and just before the tournament he got his old bat repaired to use it as some magical wand to triumph the World Cup. Rahul Dravid also refrained from changing his bat ahead of a series. Sunil Gavaskar use to change his bat in every match if he didn’t changed his gloves. 11. Uncanny fantasies for toilet seats and ceiling: (source) Former Proteas player Neil McKenzie used to decree his toilet seats be closed before leaving for the dressing room. McKenzie then struck the bat to the ceiling and taped the bat in the dressing room before every innings. Similarly, he would look to square leg, to fine leg, and the bowler as he regards these things as lucky tricks. 12. Touching the ground: Mahela Jayawardene. (Photo Source: BCCI) Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene has a long-held distinctive superstition, after scoring first run he always bustles to the other side of the pitch to touch the ground with his bat even if it’s a boundary. 13. Romance with the ball: (source) Lasith Malinga is a holder of a diverse superstition. Malinga kisses the ball to blow some magic with his lips on the cricket cherry, everytime before delivering the ball. For him, the trick brings luck and desired results. 14. Superstition of Nelson: David Shepherd Nelson. (© Getty Images) One of the most loved cricket umpires of the world, the late David Shepherd had a weird superstition of showcasing a little dance move or a hop on one leg when the scorecard reached 111 run which was Nelson, regarded as unlucky by many. 15. Transferring luck: (source) Sunil Gavaskar who plundered 774 runs in his first series was assisted by some luck as there was numerous fielding lapses due to which Garry Sobers used to touch him before play and he scored three centuries as well after that but on one occasion when he couldn’t touch Gavaskar due to Wadekar’s intervention, Sobers failed miserably. 16. Duck superstition: A universal cricket superstition says that eating ducks before a match brings bad fortunes. On one fine day three Englishmen namely Robin Jackman, David Gower, and Allan Lamb challenged it only to get out cheaply the very next day against Pakistan. 17. Superstition of zipping the mouth: There was an ardent superstition of former English player Mike Atherton that when he remained unbeaten at the end of day’s play, he wouldn’t give any interviews, comments or anything about it as he zipped his mouth afterwards to rule out its inauspicious effects on his game next day. 18. Sweater Superstition: There was a superstition that during the Delhi test in 1999, whenever Sachin Tendulkar handed over Anil Kumble’s sweater and cap to the umpire before his overs, Kumble took a wicket. In the same match, Kumble became the first Indian to take 10 wickets in an innings. Sunil Gavaskar didn’t wear sweater in his early days, even in winters. 19. Lucky line: The former Zimbabwe cricketers Grant Flower and Mark Dekker had a famous punch line which was prosperous for their game. Whenever they had gone for batting together, either of them used to say the other “I hope you get hit on the head” in reply to which the other always reciprocated by saying that “same to you”. 20. Magical coin: England cricketer Sir Len Hutton had a possession of a mystic coin. Hutton always carried a five shilling coin with himself which was given to him by his grandfather’s friend with recommendation never to part ways with it as it might bring bad luck to his game. 21. Blessings of god: (source) Sri Lankan legendary pace bowler Chaminda Vaas use to take a pause, then usually swear to god by crossing heart before he started his run-up. The former West-Indian all-rounder Phil Simmons used to have a cross, attached to his sweater. 22. Pad Strategy: (source) During Indian Premiere League (IPL), Gautam Gambhir never opens up his pads after getting out early in the innings as he believes that his team will win if he kept his pads on till the end of the match. 23. Tendency of chanting: (source) Former Indian cricketer Reetinder Sodhi was always spotted chanting “japji sahibji” before a match. The former Sri Lankan cricketer Roshan Mahanama always used to utter some mantra as well. 24. Moment of introspection: Geoffrey Boycott. (Photo Source: PA Photos) The classical former English batsman Geoffrey Boycott was accustomed to be alone in his changing room before going out to bat. He regarded that having deep thought before batting, did wonders to his game and became his fortune of luck. 25. Tiger T-shirt: Imran Khan (Photo Source: Getty Images) The greatest Pakistani skipper and World cup winner Imran Khan was superstitious as well. In World Cup 1992 final against England, he wore a tiger T-Shirt as Imran regarded it as a lucky charm and eventually Pakistan marched to World Cup glory as well. 26. Adjusting gears and thumping thighs: Sanath Jayasuriya. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The man who changed the dynamics of ODI cricket, Sanath Jayasuriya could be ever seen thumping his thighs, after every ball he faced during his playing days. He also had a superstition of adjusting his helmet and patting his pad every now and then. 27. Superstitions of bracelet and Kada: (source) Sanath Jayasuriya had a special bracelet made of threads prepared by Buddhist monks for him. For Virat Kohli the lucky charm is his Kada which he has been wearing since 2012 apart from donning black wristbands in the past. Yuvraj Singh wears black kalava on his wrist to sway away the evil spirits from his game. 28. Indo-Pak rivalry superstitions: India v Pakistan. (© Getty Images) In the eras of ’80s and ’90s whenever the arch-rivals played a final on Friday, it meant victory for Pakistan while Saturday was regarded as India’s day. 29. The luck of cleanliness: Jonty Rhodes. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The best fielder of the world Jonty Rhodes always kept everything neat and tidy whenever he was padded up and waiting to bat. When his teammates spilled even little dirt, Rhodes used to pick them up as cleanliness was cog-wheel of his luck. 30. Thigh pad: Rahul Dravid.(Photo Source: Getty Images) The Indian legend Rahul Dravid always wore his right thigh pad first during his playing days as he held it as his fortuitous charm. 31. Superstitions of gloves: Sunil Gavaskar. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Indian test skipper Virat Kohli at one time wore the same pair of gloves with which he was plundering runs for luck. Sunil Gavaskar used to wear a new pair of gloves in every other match if he didn’t play with a new bat. 32. Superstitions in team bus: S. Sreesanth has a peculiar tendency to get off the team bus at last, at any cost. In the bus, certain players like Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar had a fixed seat which brought extravagant luck for them 33. Fantasies of Jersey: Shoaib akhtar. (© Getty Images) Shoaib Akhtar use to wear his Pakistani jersey even while sleeping in early days of his career. Former Indian wicket-keeper Chandrakant Pandit didn’t washed the shirt in which he scored a century as he thought it would wash off some of the luck as well. Gautam Gambhir doesn’t take off his bib (it refers to the jersey wore on top of the shirt). Dilip Vengsarkar didn’t change his jersey even after tasting failure until he made runs in the same. Nikhil Chopra always had yellow or black colour in his clothing in which he bats. 34. Walking style: Krishnamachari Srikkanth. (© Getty Images) Kris Srikkanth always walked right to his partner whenever he came to bat. But, during the 1986-87 Test series final against Pakistan, Gavaskar explored this lucky charm as Gavaskar asked Srikkanth to let him walk on the right side, and Srikkanth obliged as it was Gavaskar’s last test innings and then little master played a brilliant knock. 35. Carrying Photo: (© Getty Images) Sourav Ganguly always use to carry the photo of his Guru in his pocket while batting which he regarded as a lucky charm throughout his illustrious career. 36. Love for music: (source) The Australian skipper Michael Clarke listens to loud music before batting as he considers it as a lucky charm for his game. The Indian ODI openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma keep singing in between the overs to keep themselves relaxed. 37. Superstitions to take wicket: English Player John James use to run inside the pavilion to stroke his belly of a koala bear while Proteas player Huge kissed the springbok in his cap to take wicket in times of desperation. 38. Carrying silver clover: Former English player Denis Compton carried a silver four-leaf clover with him as he regarded it indispensable ingredient for success. Also Read – 30 Mind Boggling Cricket Facts You Did Not Know 39. Cricket Bag: R Ashwin. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ashwin used to carry his lucky bag in World Cup 2011 and carried it for all matches in which India won. 40. French cut beard: (source) The World Cup 2011 hero Yuvraj Singh sported French cut beard throughout the event as he regarded it as the part of his success and shaved only after the tournament concluded.