2020 was a pretty strange year. Even though there was limited cricketing action across the globe, the game didn’t fail to entertain its audience. There were good, a few bad, and as well as plenty of ugly events that happened this year in the world of cricket.
We at Stumpsandbails bring you 5 such controversies that dominated the headlines this year.
#1 Rohit Sharma: Fit for Mumbai Indians, Unfit for India?
The Rohit Sharma injury episode played out like a daily soap. Sharma picked up a hamstring injury during Dream11 IPL 2020 and was subsequently ruled out of India’s limited-overs leg tour to Australia. But surprisingly Sharma turned up for the Mumbai Indians and played three games at the business end of the tournament. There seemed a clear lack of communication between Sharma and Indian team management. Virat Kohli in his first virtual press conference in Australia burst out at Rohit Sharma’s injury update. This prompted the BCCI to set up a call among all the concerned parties and resolve the matter amicably.
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#2 Mr. IPL, Suresh Raina pulls out of IPL 2020
Suresh Raina had announced retirement from international cricket moments after former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni called it a quits. The retired duo were expected to lead the charge for Chennai Super Kings in Dream11 IPL 2020. But in a sudden turn of events, Raina announced that he will not be participating in this season of IPL owing to safety issues. CSK’s boss N. Srinivasan accused Raina of throwing starry tantrums but later retracted his statements. It was an ugly episode that disturbed the harmony of CSK.
#3 Mohammad Amir’s decision to retire at the age of 28
Pakistan’s pace sensation, Mohammad Amir announced retirement at the age of 28 from all forms of international cricket. His decision took the entire cricketing world by surprise. He stated that he was being mentally tortured by Pakistan cricket’s governing body (PCB). Amir’s international career had earlier suffered a setback of 5 years when he was suspended for being involved in the spot-fixing scandal.
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#4 Confusion over concussion substitute down under
In the first T20I against Australia, a controversy erupted when India asked for a concussion substitute. In the final over of India’s first innings, Ravindra Jadeja was struck on his helmet but the physio did not come to check him as per the concussion protocol and Jadeja played out the remaining balls. But cut to the 2nd innings, India were allowed to play Yuzvendra Chahal as Jadeja’s substitute and this did not go down well with many cricketing voices.
#5 Mushfiqur Rahim wanted to knock down his own teammate
A weird incident occurred at the Bangabandhu T20 tournament in Bangladesh, when senior Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim, who was the wicketkeeper of the Beximco Dhaka squad, threatened to hit his teammate Nasum Ahmed with the ball. The reason behind this freak event was that Ahmed was about to collide with Rahim while the latter was attempting to take the catch. All hell broke loose and Rahim lost his cool. The video went viral.
