It is very rare that a year goes by without any major cricket controversies. Match fixing, drug abuse, fights between players, wrong decisions by the umpires or fights between players and officials have played a huge role in tainting the image of the game. Over the course of almost 150 years, there have been a lot of controversies. Here are some of the most controversial cricket matches played:
England vs South Africa
In only their debut appearance in the tournament, a formidable South African squad led by Kepler Wessels was able to go to the semi-final of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. The Proteas had to chase 253 in the allotted overs against England in a game that was cut to 45 overs due to severe rain.
South Africa responded by scoring 232/6, needing 22 runs from 13 deliveries. The D/L method gave the target to the South African team to chase 22 runs off just one delivery after two overs were lost due to the rain gods’ repeated downpours. The game finished with England advancing to the finals, and the outcome is still one of the most talked-about in sports to this day.
England vs Pakistan
In 2006, shortly after the lunch break in the fourth and final Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval, umpire Darrell Hair accused the Pakistan team of ball tampering and gave England five runs as a penalty to Pakistan.
Pakistan, under the direction of Inzamam-ul-Haq, chose not to return to the pitch as a protest when the teams entered the tea break. After some time passed, the umpires removed the bails and proclaimed England the winner. Almost 55 minutes after play resumed, Pakistan did return to the pitch, but the umpires declared the match to be over. Even though England wanted to keep playing, the game was called.
Two years after the incident the ICC called the match a draw but after the MCC’s recommendation, they declared England the winner after another year.
Australia vs India
During the second Test of the 2007–2008 Border–Gavaskar Trophy, the umpires made up to 12 incorrect calls throughout the match. Steve Bucknor, one of the most seasoned umpires, received criticism for one of the worst games of his career.
A report claims that a staggering 8 of the 11 contentious umpiring decisions went against India, which completely changed the outcome of the game. After the match, which Australia won by 122 runs, BCCI demanded that Bucknor be dropped for the third Test. Billy Bowden, a New Zealand umpire, was appointed as his substitute a few days later.
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