5 Times when fans outraged outside Cricketers' houses

Cricket is not just a sport in the sub-continent, it is an emotion. The fans in this part of the world are quite emotional about the sport. When players have a good day and the side wins, fans always make sure to transpire their love to the players.

However, there are bad days as well. But, some fans don’t understand this. There have been several occasions when fans have outraged in the stadium as their team wasn’t playing well. For instance, in 1996 semi-final, fans at Eden Gardens started rioting as India slipped from 96 for 1 to 120 for 8. There have been some incidents when the fans have even attacked the houses of the players.

5 Times when fans outraged outside Cricketers’ houses:

1. After the Indian team had a poor start to 2003 World Cup

Back in 2003, Sourav Ganguly was leading a young Indian side in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. Going into the mega event, the Indian team wasn’t in best of forms. The team lost a home series to West Indies 4-3 and lost to New Zealand 5-2 away from home. When Ganguly and his men arrived in the rainbow nation, the whole nation expected them to start well.

But the team struggled against Holland (later came to known as The Netherlands) in their first match, but somehow escaped with a win. In their second match, India got a reality check. Defending champions Australia bowled them out for 125 runs and India lost the match very poorly. This didn’t go well with the Indian fans as they started protesting. Stones were thrown at the houses of India team members back home by several protestors.

Sourav Ganguly openly criticised the outrage by the Indian public and also told his players not to interact with media. After this incident, India went on to win eight consecutive matches to enter the final of the tournament. They lost to Australia once again, but in those days anyone hardly ever beat Australia.

2. After the Indian team was knocked out of 2007 World Cup

After being the runners-up at the 2003 World Cup, the Indian team were hoping to go through to win the trophy in 2007. They had the side with a perfect blend of youth and experience and some good form was also behind them. But things didn’t start well. India slipped to a loss in their first match against Bangladesh. They came back strongly by beating Bermuda in the next match.

However, the team fell flat once again in their last league game. They lost to Sri Lanka and knocked out of the tournament. Going into the World Cup, Rahul Dravid‘s team was the No.4 in the rankings and the performance was just unexpected. Once again, fans didn’t take it lightly. Stones were thrown at the houses of players and their dummies were burnt on the road. The outrage was quite disheartening to watch for the players.

However, a few months later, MS Dhoni captained a young Indian side to a victory in the inaugural edition of the ICC Twenty20 World cup and cricket in India was never the same again.

3. Yuvraj Singh

Unlike the previous two incidents, the next three weren’t targeted at the entire team. First in line is the infamous incident with Yuvraj Singh after the 2014 World T20 Final. India had gone into the final as the only unbeaten side. They were up against Sri Lanka, who had lost 4 World cup finals (two 50-overs and two T20) since 2007.

India batted first but managed to score a below-par total of 130. Virat Kohli was the only batsman to get runs at a quick rate, and the Lankan bowling fell heavy on others. However, Yuvraj Singh’s knock was heavily criticised as he had come in the middle at a crucial time. As Kohli was building the innings at one end, Yuvraj took too much time.

He played 21 balls and scored just 11 runs. He innings was touted as the reason why India didn’t find any momentum in the middle and death overs. Stones were thrown at his residence and a lot of people called out for his retirement. Yuvraj kept fighting the critics and played cricket till 2019. He even went on to make a comeback into the Indian side in 2017, when he also registered his highest ever ODI score.

4. MS Dhoni

This incident took place in 2013. At the time, Australia was playing a seven-match ODI series against India. India had lost the first and the third ODI. However, they had won the second match in Jaipur and kept the series alive.

Going into the fourth game of the series, there was a lot of anticipation as Dhoni was playing at home ground. India won the toss and put Australia to bat first. The visitors posted a competitive 295 runs on the board. However, four overs into the Indian run chase, the rain came down and the match had to be called off.

After the match, stones were thrown at Dhoni’s residence in Ranchi. Later, it was revealed that the fans weren’t happy with Dhoni’s decision of opting to bowl first. Others were offended that the match didn’t get a result yet their money was not returned. India went on win that series 3-2.

5. Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh had reached the super eight stage at the ICC World Cup 2007. They had beaten teams like India and South Africa during the tournament. So, when Bangladesh was announced as one of the hosts in the ICC World Cup 2011, fans hoped that the team would once again make it to the final eight.

But as the tournament started, The Tigers got the reality check. They were beaten by India quite badly in the opening match. However, it was the loss against West Indies which hurt the fans quite badly. The Tigers were bowled out for just 58 runs. West Indies chased the total under 12 overs. The fans didn’t like that one bit.

Bangladesh team was booed on their way from the stadium to the hotel while the West Indian players also got some hostile treatment. But captain Shakib Al Hasan suffered the most. Stones were thrown at his house as the skipper was blamed for the side’s terrible show. As turned out, Bangladesh failed to qualify to the quarterfinal because their poor net run rate.