Cricketers live life off the field like a king. They at times go overboard with their celebrations. The kind of addiction they develop for the substance and drinks harms them and does more bad than good. We have seen many classic cases of cricketers being in the wrong after consuming a drink or two in the public.
We at StumpsandBails bring to you 5 moments when cricketers were drunk on the field:
#5 Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting transformed seamlessly into a respected Australian captain but his start at international cricket was something else. The Tasmanian born batsman made his Test debut at the age of 20; however, a weakness for booze led to a handful of events that threatened to cut short his professional career.
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When Australia toured India in 1998, “Punter” (as he was lovingly called) was thrown out of a Kolkata nightclub after a tussle with bouncers. He was subsequently fined by the Australian Cricket Board. Ponting’s tryst with alcohol didn’t just end there, he was also kicked out of a Sydney night-club in 1999 after a drunken brawl.
#4 David Warner
David Warner before the sandpaper gate incident was a different beast. He intimidated the opposition with both his batting and aggression. Warner needlessly got into battles with the opposition players. His most infamous brawl was when he allegedly punched England Test captain, Joe Root. Warner was completely drunk and he coped a fine. He was even dropped from the team for his drunken misadventure.
#3 Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff was box-office. He was cricket’s own child. He enthralled and embarrassed in equal measure. Flintoff had been already been on the wrong end of the spectrum when he was caught in an intoxicated state (to make matters worse, he was the Ashes captain then). But his worst moment came in 2007 when post the match against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, Flintoff was a few drinks down. In that toxic state, he decided to take a pedalo out onto the water for a spin. This cost Flintoff the England vice-captaincy.
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#2 Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds was all set to become the next big Australian superstar but his troubles with alcohol cost him his career. Symonds had infamously turned up for a team meeting before an ODI against Bangladesh is a drunk state. His repeated feats of going fishing while on match days have also been well documented.
#1 Vinod Kambli
Vinod Kambli was Indian cricket’s biggest what if. He had talent greater than Sachin Tendulkar. Kambli was all flair and flamboyance, but what he lacked was discipline and temperament. Vinod Kambli got into an ugly fight with his fiancee the night before an ODI which disturbed the Indian team too.
There have been several such episodes in Kambli’s life where he was pulled back by two steps when he tried going for one extra step. Kambli is a big lesson for the long cricketers growing up, if you have talent, then please don’t take the Kambli route.
