Most hated XI in international cricket

3. Ricky Ponting

It should come in as no surprise to see a bunch of Australian cricketers in this list. Their attitude of “Winning at any cost” many times crossed the ethical borders and no one understands it better than the legendary Ricky Ponting. It’s almost sad to see one of the game’s all-time greats in this list, but during his playing career, Ponting was definitely not the nicest of gentlemen on the field.

Getting involved in heated discussions with players and umpires, the infamous Sydney Test in 2008 being a classic example. Some fans also hate him for battering their favourite teams single-handedly on the field, which is a little obnoxious but also highlights what a dominant cricketer he was. He lost all his control and furnace towards the end of his career and eventually, he called time on his playing days in 2012.

4. Greg Chappell

A name that sends chills down the spine of Indian cricket fans for all the wrong reasons – Greg Chappell never managed to win the Indian fans, neither as a player nor as the Indian head coach. He was rated as the “Greatest batsman in Australian history” alongside Ricky Ponting and Sir Donald Bradman, which should explain how magnificent a cricketer he was.

But he wrote one of the darkest chapters in cricket history in 1981, where he urged his bowler (and younger brother) Trevor Chappell to bowl underarm off the final ball when New Zealand needed 7 runs to win. After more than half the cricketing universe went against him for that incident, his tenure as the Indian coach also marked a new dark chapter in his history.

He failed to get along with the big names like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and the rest. Indian cricket encountered its worst-ever World Cup performance during his tenure in 2007, having exited in the group stages with losses to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He clearly had lost all the love by the time he was sacked.

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