Top 5 controversies in the history of Indian Cricket

Cricket is always appreciated as a gentlemen’s game. However, if we turn back the pages of cricketing history, we can see many conflicts that rocked the sporting circles across the globe and of course damaged the spirit of the game.

Indian Cricket came to prominence after the 1983 World Cup and while their notoriety towered, the controversies also started to sneak up. Here is the list of top 5 controversies that rocked the Indian Cricketing world.

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#5 Mike Denness vs The Indian Cricket Team - November 2001

Mike Denness, former England Captain and the match referee for the India vs South Africa Test match in Port Elizabeth in 2001, stirred one of the biggest controversies in the world cricket. The issue gained global notice when Sachin Tendulkar, of all people, was accused of ball tampering charge and handed a match ban. The English referee didn't stop there. He handed a Test match ban to Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta, Harbhajan Singh and Shiv Sunder Das for excessive appealing. He also banned the then Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly for one Test match and two ODIs for failing to keep his team under control.

These accusations caused a serious uproar in India. While the Indian Cricket aficionados went to streets and burnt Denness effigies, the Indian Parliament termed Denness as a 'racist'. ICC supported Denness, but Cricket South Africa sided with BCCI and did not let Denness officiate the next Test Match. ICC declared the third Test Match unofficial. The world cricket governing body, eventually, overturned the ban on Sachin and Ganguly.

#4 Greg Chappell Vs Sourav Ganguly - 2005 to 2007

The most disheartening image for an Indian Cricket fan; clicked after India's exit from the 2007 World cup

Greg Chappell’s two-year consignment from 2005 to 2007 was warped by several controversies, including the infamous public spat with then skipper Sourav Ganguly. It all started during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2005. Chappell’s inclination to drop Ganguly from the Test side did not go well with then Indian Captain. The gap widened when the leaked email from Chappell revealed the coach’s resentment towards the Indian captain.

Soon after the tour, the selectors sacked Ganguly as the captain citing his mediocre performance. They dropped Ganguly from the ODI side too. Dropping the left-hander didn’t go well with the Indian fans as the Kolkata crowd supported the South African Cricket team during an ODI against the Dravid-led Indian side.

Chappell’s infamous coaching stint came to an end after India's exit from the 2007 World Cup in the group stage.

#3 The Sydney Test Controversy - January 2008

The tension between the Indian and Australian camp was unbelievable during the Test Match

India's test match at the SCG on their 2007-08 tour of Australia is considered as one of the most controversial test matches ever played in the history of the game. Nine wrong umpiring decisions marred the game which resulted in India losing the closely fought match.

Michael Clarke controversially caught Ganguly at slip. While the replays were inconclusive whether the ball grassed the surface or not, Ricky Ponting raised his finger to signal out. Infuriated India captain Anil Kumble commented that "only one team had played in the spirit of the game."

Upon BCCI's demand, ICC removed Steve Bucknor for the Third test match and replaced him with Billy Bowden.

The issue took a different dimension when Symonds accused Harbhajan Singh of racial abuse and match referee Mike Procter banned the off-spinner for three test matches. India almost withdrew from the tour because of the unfair ban on their ace spinner, but ICC intervened to reduce the tension between the two countries.

ICC formed a disciplinary committee to look into the issue which prompted India to continue the tour. The fiery Indian side then went on to win the next Test Match at Perth. On 28 January, the disciplinary committee lifted Harbhajan's three-match Test ban and handed him a match fine, ending this bitter saga.

#2 Spot fixing and betting controversy - IPL 2012 - 2013

The voice of banning IPL echoed throughout India post the spot-fixing and betting scandal

Twelve years post the infamous match-fixing controversy, Indian Cricket faced another tumultuous couple of years.This issue began in 2012 when an Indian news channel, India TV, aired a sting operation which accused five IPL players of demanding a bribe in exchange for spot-fixing. BCCI banned all the five players, with a life-ban on TP Sudhindra and a five-year ban on Shalabh Srivastava.

As the dust seemed to settle, Delhi police arrested S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila of Rajasthan Royals along with eleven other bookies for spot-fixing during IPL 2013. Rajasthan Royals terminated the contracts of all three suspended players.

The situation became ominous when the CSK Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of then BCCI president N Srinivasan, got arrested for illegal betting charges. Shortly, Rajasthan Royals team owner Raj Kundra also got arrested for the same betting case.

There was a serious conflict of interest charges laid against Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings and this forced Rajiv Shulka, the Chairman of IPL and N Srinivasan to step down from their posts.

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India-appointed Lodha committee suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL for a span of two years.

#1 Match-fixing scandal - 1999 - 2000

Prabhakar participated in Tehelka's expose of match-fixing but was himself charged with involvement and got banned by BCCI from playing Cricket

The controversy which rocked the cricketing world started just after South Africa toured India in 1999-2000. It all started with the match-fixing scandal around the South African players Cronje, Gibbs, Boje, and Strydom.

The investigation resulted in a chain of events leading to the Indian Cricket camp. The Indian government ordered the CBI to probe the match-fixing accusations and to find out the involvement of Indian cricketers in the scandal. The most ruinous statement in the CBI report is of former Indian captain Azharuddin, who, the report states, admitted to fixing Indian matches with the aid of Ajay Jadeja.

On November 27, 2000, Azharuddin was found guilty of match-fixing, while Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma were found guilty of having connections with bookies.Though the courts lifted the ban on Azharuddin and Jadeja after a few years, Indian cricket was never the same post this incident.