5 Times cricketers were banned for weird reasons

The rules and regulations are quite strict in cricket. It is a must for any player to abide by the laws of the game. Over the years, we have seen several instances that prove that no one else is above the game. For example, Cricket Australia banned two of its best cricketers, Steve Smith and David Warner for 12 months after the ball-tampering incident. This shows the importance of values and virtues in this sport.

While this is all one side of the coin, there are several cases where the players were banned due to extremely uncanny reasons. Right from former Indian captain Kapil Dev to Pakistan’s legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi, there are several cricketers who faced a ban due to weird reasons. It is quite tough to decipher the logic behind these decisions.

Here are five cricketers who were banned due to weird reasons:

1. Kapil Dev | Playing aggressive cricket

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev is known for his fitness levels. During his 16-year-long career, the ‘Haryana Hurricane‘ hardly missed a game of cricket. Furthermore, he also led India to their first 50-over World Cup in 1983.

On 132 occasions where he had an opportunity to represent India in Test match cricket, Kapil Dev missed out only once. And that too because he was banned for one match as he tried to play aggressive cricket. In the 1984-85 season, in a Test match against England, he walked in to bat when India’s score was a few runs shy of 100 in the second innings.

While he was expected to take the responsibility and bat sensibly, he decided to unleash his beast mode. Kapil edged the second ball that he faced that ran away for a boundary. He attempted a big shot again off the next delivery and got out. The management was irked by his attitude and blamed him for the loss in the match. Thus, he was banned for one game.

2. Shahid Afridi | Biting the ball

Shahid Afridi, fondly known as Lala, was known for his aggressive character of the field. The former Pakistan all-rounder was always in the face of the opposition and enjoyed playing mind games. But on one instance, he did something sheepish that resulted in a ban.

During a five-match series against Australia, Afridi was spotted biting the ball. While walking with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, he performed this action. The laws state that: ‘any attempt to change the condition of the ball through illegal means is a violation of the players’ code of conduct and is liable to punishment.’

Thus, the ICC considered it as an act of breaching the laws. He has handed over with a two-match ban in T20Is. Later, Shahid Afridi accepted that this was a mistake on his part and apologised for the same.

3. Andrew Symonds | Fishing

For any of you who would have watched cricket back in the 2000s, you’d realise how brutal a batsman Andrew Symonds was. He is one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball ever and is a live wire on the field. Moreover, he was more than competent with the ball making him a perfect package for white-ball cricket.

He was one of those cricketers who always used to be in the faces of the opposition and had an aura of his own. However, his career was also marred by several controversies which including the famous fishing incident. In 2008, he missed a team meeting and instead decided to go fishing.

The repercussions for this behaviour were quite strong. Symonds was immediately banned and sent back home. He was given a month’s time to prove his dedication and loyalty towards Australian cricket. Post that incident, there was a lot of uncertainty about his future. But he managed to continue to represent Australia till 2009.

4. Ravindra Jadeja | Throwing a ball inappropriately at the opponent

Ravindra Jadeja is one of the most important members of the Indian Test set-up. He is a lethal bowling option in the sub-continent but has managed to do well away from home as well. Jadeja is also a valuable batsman down the order and his fielding heroics need no introduction.

In the Virat Kohli-era, he has managed to stamp his authority and went from strength to strength in the longest format of the game. But in the 2017 series against Sri Lanka, he was handed over with a one-match ban due to a peculiar reason. After completing his over, he tried to hurl the ball back towards the keeper.

But it was deemed to be thrown dangerously at the batsman Dimuth Karunaratne. It missed him narrowly and thus Jadeja was handed over three demerit points. He already had three points earlier when he ran on the pitch during the series against New Zealand. Thus, this resulted in a one-match ban. Jadeja also came up with a cheeky tweet after this incident where he shared a famous movie dialogue.

pic.twitter.com/Qzxtn3cqrp

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) August 7, 2017

5. Shoaib Akhtar | Hitting teammate with a bat

Than any of the above-mentioned incidents, this was a slightly more serious offence. Because he failed to keep control on his temper, Shoaib Akhtar also had to miss out on the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. According to reports, there was a heated argument in the Pakistan dressing room.

Things soon got quite serious and out of control. Shahid Afridi abused the Rawalpindi Express when he was holding a bat. The words used by the all-rounder were sufficient to agitate Akhtar and he charged towards Afridi to hit him with the bat. However, he ended up hitting another teammate, Mohammad Asif, in the process.

As a result, Shoaib Akhtar was immediately banned and sent back home. Akhtar, later, stated that he acted that way due to the words used by Afridi against his family. He said that even though he wanted to hit Shahid Afridi, he ended up Asif on his thighs by mistake. Akhtar also apologised for his conduct.