Cricket entered new territories in the decade which passed by. The revolution of T20 and private cricketing leagues across the world has completely transformed the game. The game has seen new 50 Over World Cup champions in England (2019) while New Zealand fell short twice in four years to become World Cup winners. The rise of Indian cricket was there for everyone to see while Australia had a shaky decade with their off-field issues garnering more attention. We at Stumpsandbails bring you 7 cricket controversies that happened this decade and sparked huge outrage.
7: Ambati Rayudu’s exclusion and his sarcastic 3-D tweet
Ambati Rayudu was billed to be India’s number 4 leading up to the 50 over World Cup in England, 2019. He also played quite a few crucial knocks in the build-up to the tournament. It seemed like team India have finally found a reliable number 4. But things came crashing down for Rayudu in a spate of few games as he failed to score big in 3 home ODIs against Australia and all-rounder Vijay Shankar was selected in his place. The chief selector, MSK Prasad had famously quoted that Shankar as compared to Rayudu is a 3-D player. This reasoning didn’t go down well with Ambati Rayudu and he ended up posting a tweet which said, “ Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup”. Sadly that was the end of Ambati Rayudu’s international cricketing career.
6: Virat Kohli’s finger-gate episode in Sydney, 2012
India were having a difficult time down under getting repeatedly beaten by a strong Australian team. Virat Kohli who was a youngster back then was finding the tour to Australia quite arduous. He was on the brink of getting dropped from the team after failing repeatedly in the first few innings at Melbourne and Sydney. While fielding near the boundary ropes in the 2nd test at Sydney, few spectators were riling up young Kohli and he raised his middle finger in a moment of exasperation which shocked the entire cricketing world.
5: The Sanjay Manjrekar-Harsha Bhogle argument
Sanjay Manjrekar had a year to forget in 2019. He had earlier picked up Ravindra Jadeja and called him a “bits and pieces” player during the World Cup. While Jadeja scored a fantastic 77 off 59 balls against New Zealand in the semi-finals and asked Manjrekar what does he has to say now. The worse was yet to come when Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle were commentating during the historic pink ball Test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
While Bhogle had suggested that it will be wise to collectively pick up opinions about everyone in the field about the unknown factor of the pink ball. Sanjay Manjrekar brought out the pride of being a former Indian cricketer and told Harsha Bhogle that cricketers like him who have played the game don’t need to ask opinions from others. This comment was utterly disrespectful towards a fellow commentator and the audience didn’t take to it lightly.
4: IPL Council banned the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years
IPL spot-fixing scandal had made its way in the year 2013. The incident saw the likes of S.Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila being handed out life bans from the council. Upon further investigation in 2015, it was revealed that principal co-owners of both Chennai Super Kings (Gurunath Meiyappan) and Rajasthan Royals (Raj Kundra) were guilty of betting. Consequently, both of them were banned from any cricketing activity whereas CSK and RR were also expelled from the league for 2 years (2016 and 2017)
3: Pakistan’s spot-fixing scandal in 2010 against England
Pakistani fast bowling had everything going for them with the likes of Mohammad Asif and young prodigy Mohammad Amir running the show. But greed got the better of the duo when they were caught bowling pre-planned no-balls at English batsman at Lords. They were so clear to bowl the no-ball that they exceeded the bowling crease by a foot to deliver their balls. During the investigation, it was revealed that the then captain, Salman Butt had completely chalked out the plan for his bowlers to deliver. The trio were handed severe punishment. Even though Amir returned to cricketing action after 5 years, a stain has forever been etched to his name.
2: MS Dhoni stormed into the field to challenge an umpire’s decision
Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his famed patience in IPL 2019. The incident happened during the game between CSK and RR. The match was proving to be a thriller and there happened a hint of miscommunication between the on-field umpires. That was it, MS Dhoni lost his cool approach and march onto the field even though he had already been dismissed. Dhoni had no right trying to impose his will nor question the officials. Sometimes even the best let go of their famed qualities and this episode was one such example.
1: Sandpaper gate!
Sandpaper gate scandal was a rude wake up call to world cricket. What was already turning out to be an acrimonious series between hosts South Africa and Australia got further embroiled in controversy when the sandpaper incident happened. The broadcasting cameras caught Australia’s Cameron Bancroft scuffling the ball with sandpaper. All hell broke loose when he admitted his offence and later both Steve Smith and David Warner acknowledged their part in the shameful act. There was outrage, there were tears, there were shockwaves, people openly condemned the Aussie sports culture and everyone ripped apart the moral standards of Australian cricket. 2018 was a dreadful year for Australia and this episode taught many lessons to everyone.
