Ranking top 10 controversial cricketers

Cricket, also known as the gentlemen’s game, hasn’t always been so gentlemanly on quite a few occasions with players losing control of their emotions & their work ethics on & off the field. Sometimes, fans have made such players’ life more challenging by attacking them on social media as they expect the highest level of conduct from their heroes. 

As regular as clockwork, every few years controversies explode over the sport of cricket. Cricket has seen its everything over the decades, from match-fixing to fights, from ball-tampering to confrontations, from Bodyline to Mankading, and everything in between.

Let’s look at 10 such infamous cricketers who may or may not have a great cricketing career but if the controversy was their profession, they would be the Bill Gates or Mukesh Ambani of it, such has been the impact of them. 

Most Controversial cricketers in history

10. Mohammad Amir

During Mohammad Amir’s early days, the cricket pundits considered him the next Wasim Akram of world cricket as the 18-year-old burst onto the international cricket arena where the best of the best were finding it difficult to cope up with his inswinging pacy deliveries. The most promising career out of the list which has been destroyed by controversies has been saved for this last one. 

During the infamous Lord’s Test match between England and Pakistan in 2018, Mohammad Amir along with Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were suspended by the ICC on allegations of what was later defined as spot-fixing. They were alleged to have carried out specific on-field actions, including bowling no-balls at predetermined times on the instance of a bookie. Eventually, ICC handed a 5-year ban to the 18-year-old prodigy.

After his ban period elapsed, he immediately started making an impact in domestic cricket and made a comeback in the national team in 2016. He was one of the key players in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy title in 2017. Just a few months ago, he suddenly announced his retirement & further added, “I was always available for white-ball cricket but I have had shabby treatment from the team management who have mentally tortured me, and that’s unacceptable.” On one hand, PCB chief Wasim Khan says that he respects Amir’s decision & on the other hand, Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis accused Amir of “ditching Pakistan” while continuing to play league cricket to earn money.