5 Controversial declarations in cricket history

3. Jamaica bloodbath, 1976

After having got smashed by the Australians [1-5] in the preceding summer, West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd was a hurt man. He has seen his batsmen surrender to the pace and hostility of the Australian quicks and to rub salt to Lloyd’s wounds, India proceeded to shellack his bowling attack to the tune of 404 (the then world record) in the fourth innings at Trinidad

Clearly, Lloyd had had enough. According to the documentary Fire in Babylon, the defeat at the hands of Australia made Lloyd declare ‘Never again’. That resolve became even more resolute post the shock defeat in Trinidad.

So, what did the legendary captain do? He unleashed the might of his pace quartet against the Indians at Sabina Park in Jamaica. The message was clear and to put it in the words of a fan: ‘Aim for the head, maan’

“Aim for his head, man”, “Kill him, maan”, “Take him down, Mike!”  was the constant chant from the crowd as Michael Holding and Daniel unleashed thunderbolts one after the other. India fought valiantly in the first innings despite a majority of its players including Anshuman Gaekwad (81), Brijesh Patel (14) getting retired hurt.

But, matters really came to a head in the second innings. With half of the Indian team in the hospital, the Indian innings stood completed with the overall lead reading 12 runs. It sparked off a controversy with Murray saying in ‘Fire in Babylone’ : “The Indians thought we were overdoing the fast-bowling, surrendered the Test match to the West Indies almost as a show of protest.”

However, Bedi later clarified that he had not declared and the innings stood completed.