5 instances when the crowd booed the home team

Booing has been a common thing in cricket over the past few years. It is one of the famous ways in which the crowds these days express their disapproval for a team or a particular player and more often than not, it relates to the opposition team.However, cricket has also seen a number of instances of crowds turning hostile towards their own team or players. Even a few icons of the game have had to suffer the humiliation of being booed by the same crowd of which they have been heroes. Also, teams who swear by their crowd support at home have seen the complete opposite happening.We have picked out 5 instances from cricket’s recent history when home crowds turned against their own.

#5 Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander booed off the ground at Johannesburg

Steyn And Phliander play out a draw against India

It was the strangest of drawn Tests between India and South Africa at Johannesburg in the year 2013. Chasing a target of 458 set by India to win the Test, South Africa ended the game at a score of 450 for 7, a mere 8 runs short of victory.

Dale Steyn and Vernon Phliander were at the crease when South Africa were left with 16 runs to get from 3 overs. However, in a strange turn of events, both men at the crease decided not to go for the chase and settled for a draw in bizzare circumstances.

The crowd at the Wanderers was highly discontent with whatever had transpired and booed Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander as they trudged off the field after securing a draw.

#4 Ishant Sharma faces booing by the Mohali crowd

Ishant Sharma walks off after giving away 30 runs in an over

Ishant Sharma may be rediscovering his mojo at the moment, but he has been quite a whipping boy in the recent past. His poor efforts on certain occasions have turned off the Indian crowd so much that they have indulged in giving the lanky pacer a nice old booing.

One such occasion came when Australia were in India for a 7-match ODI series in 2013. The two sides met at the PCA Stadium in Mohali for the third ODI and India posted a hefty 303 on the board. The Aussies were not looking too threatening with 44 required from just 3 overs, however, the 48th over from Ishant changed it all as he conceded 30 runs to James Faulkner and contributed to an Indian loss.

The Mohali crowd were cross with Ishant Sharma’s efforts and booed him at the end of his over.

#3 The Eden crowd boos Indian players and cheers for South Africa

Fans in Kolkata display their angst for Greg Chappell

The Eden Gardens in Kolkata is perhaps the last stadium where you could imagine an Indian team being booed. However, such an incident did occur during an ODI series between India and South Africa in 2005.

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had been excluded from the ODI squad causing a lot of furore among the fans, particularly against then coach Greg Chappell. As South Africa and India met in the 4th ODI at the Eden Gardens, the crowd were quite obviously unhappy about local boy Ganguly not playing.

Even as Team India capitulated meekly at the hands of the Proteas, the crowd booed quite a few Indian players including skipper Rahul Dravid. At the same time, they also cheered for the visiting team whenever they picked up a wicket or hit a boundary.

#2 Michael Clarke gets booed at the Gabba

Clarke has been booed at home at least twice in his career

The great Australian batsman and former captain. who recently retired from international cricket, has been the victim of being booed a few times by crowds in Australia. The most famous such instance occured in an ODI between the home team and arch-rivals England at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The fifth ODI of a 7-match series post the 2011-12 Ashes saw skipper Ricky Ponting sit out due to an injury and Michael Clarke taking charge in his absence. Seemingly, this didn’t go down too well with the Gabba crowd alongside some other reasons of their own.

The moment Clarke walked in to bat at the fall of the 2nd wicket, quite a few sections of the crowd started booing him. However, after he had scored a handy half-century, one could hear only cheers for the great batsman.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar booed at the Wankhede

Sachin walks back to the pavillion after being dismissed

Even the great Sachin Tendulkar has been the victim of being booed by home supporters, that too at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This happened during a Test series between India and England in the year 2006.

It was the third and final Test of the series and England had managed to put 400 on the board in their 1st innings. In reply, India had been reduced to 24 for 2 when Tendulkar walked in to bat. After struggling for over half an hour, the master batsman was finally dismissed for just 1 and the team score read 28 for 3.

This served as a trigger for the Wankhede crowd to boo Sachin Tendulkar for the first and perhaps the only time in his career.