England vs India 2011 Photos

When cricket rules challenged sportsmanship

August 01, 2011 17:18

The Indian cricket team was lauded for calling England's Ian Bell back after he was contentiously given out before tea on Day 3 of the Trent Bridge Test. It was hailed as the victory of Sportsmanship. But it wasn't the first instance when the spirit of the game was challenged by the rules of the sport. We take a quick look at some of them.

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The Indian cricket team was lauded for calling England's Ian Bell back after he was contentiously given out before tea on Day 3 of the Trent Bridge Test. It was hailed as the victory of Sportsmanship. But it wasn't the first instance when the spirit of the game was challenged by the rules of the sport. We take a quick look at some of them.
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Eoin Morgan played a shot just before the tea. He and his batting partner Ian Bell ran across while the ball travelled toward the boundary. The throw came back in from Praveen Kumar and while the batsmen assumed it was a break for tea, the bails were knocked off and the Indian fielders went up in appeal as Bell was outside the crease.

The matter was referred to the third umpire and he declared Bell out as the umpires had not officially called for tea. But then MS Dhoni withdrew the successful appeal against Bell, who got to walk back after tea to play again, and the booing crowd gave the Indian team a standing ovation. The England team clapped for Dhoni and his boys from the dressing room.
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During the fourth ODI between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston in June 2008, Grant Elliott collided with pacer Ryan Sidebottom while stealing a single. As a result he was run out for 24. The Black Caps expected England to withdraw the appeal but skipper Paul Collingwood refused, infuriating Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori his side on the players' balcony.
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When Virender Sehwag, stranded on 99, was about to hit the last ball of the innings to seal India's win and also notch up his 13th ODI century in the 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla last year, he did not know what was spinner Suraj Randiv up to. As soon as he hit a massive six and started his celebrations, he was told that though India has won the match, he hasn't completed his century. A bewildered Sehwag was told that Randiv had bowled a no-ball and that completed India's win. So according to the rules, runs scored after a result was achieved did not matter. This created a huge furore with Sehwag accusing Randiv of bowling a deliberate no-ball. Consequently, Randiv was given a one-match ban.
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If there was ever a match that can create a record of being the most controversial, it has to be the 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia. With glaring umpiring blunders to Bhajji-Symonds spat, it had everything. But one of the most controversial among them were Michael Clarke's catch of Sourav Ganguly. Standing at second slip, Clarke latched on to the ball and erupted in celebrations. Umpire Mark Benson, instead of consulting the TV umpire or the leg umpire, consulted the fielders. TV replays showed it was not a clean catch as the ball had landed on the ground.
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During the first Test of Sri Lanka's tour to New Zealand, a controversial run out left the visitors fuming. Muttiah Muralitharan completed a single and then walked over to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on a 100. His only fault, not waiting for the ball to be called dead. New Zealand say they have no regrets about getting Muralitharan run out. Sunil Gavaskar implied that the ICC does not think too much of the 'spirit of the game' since New Zealand won the 'spirit of cricket' award for the 2nd time in 2010. Maybe the ICC doesn't give its jury the background of past incidents!
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The Asian Test Championship game between India and Pakistan in Kolkata ended in a 46-run win for the visitors in 1999. But it was a game completed with no crowds, they were expelled because of a riot. The cause of the riot, Tendulkar given run out for 9 in the 2nd innings with India chasing 279 to win. Tendulkar crashed into Shoaib Akhtar while trying to take a third run and was given run out after a direct throw. Wasim Akram refused to withdraw his appeal lashing out at the Indian media instead. He said "You have said that Shoaib obstructed Sachin from making his ground and I should have re-invited him to bat. Why should I do that? If a team fails for only one man, that is our bonus."
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Inzamam ul-Haq became just the third batsman to be given out for 'obstructing the field' in 2006 in a one-dayer in Peshawar. Needless to say the Pakistani captain had a dig at the Indians saying "I would not have imagined that Rahul Dravid's team would do such a thing." The slow moving Inzy of course had himself to blame because just a few months before this incident he had been controversially run out against England while he was ducking a throw from Steve Harmison. Maybe this was India's payback for the run out of Tendulkar in 1999.
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During the Bodyline Series in 1981, New Zealand needed six runs to tie from the final delivery of the ODI against Australia. Greg Chappell, Australia's captain, instructed his brother, Trevor, to bowl an underarm delivery along the ground to prevent tailender Brian McKechnie hitting it into the stands. Though, bowling an underarm delivery was not illegal then, it was way outside the spirit of the game.
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Australia's wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist walked during 2003 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka and divided the world in two halves. He was appreciated for keeping the spirit of the game high, but when it came to taking catches behind the wicket, he wasn't as honest.

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