5 cricketing greats who were booed on the cricket field

Cricket crowds can be very vocal in expressing their views sometimes. They can also prove to be the most fickle of supporters in instances where they boo a player who is usually supported well. Virat Kohli was booed on Indian soil during the IPL this year. They won’t care for the stature of the player who they are raising their voice against. Ponting has been booed countless times in England.

Presented here is a compilation of 5 instances where crowds booed greats or would-be greats of the game. Such incidents make you realise the irony of the situation-even greats are not spared if they underperform for once or for some reason are not popular with that particular crowd.

5. Kevin Pietersen

The Pietermaritzburg born player used to play for his regional Natal Dolphins till around the year 1999/2000, after which he shifted to English county cricket on grounds that he was uncomfortable with the racial quota, and was next signed up by Nottinghamshire. He stayed there stayed for four years, after which he moved to Hampshire.

Now that he was playing for England, he was by no means popular among the South African spectators. This particular ODI in England’s tour to South Africa in 2009, which was played at Port Elizabeth, he was booed all the way to the crease when he came out to bat. The crowds were very clear in indicating that they won’t be doing any favours to him by not shouting at him. England did win the match by 7 wickets, but he scored just 3 runs and got out. One might say the crowd got to him.

In the Test series which followed, his luck did not get better. While he was fielding at cover in the Centurion test, he conceded a boundary, and the crowd showed their pleasure by hooting with joy as the ball reached the fence. The match was drawn eventually. Pietersen did get scores in both innings (40 and 81). The next match was to be played at Durban, about 40km from his birthplace, and there was a lot of speculation on the kind of reception he would get from the crowd there.

Another interesting fact- Pietersen returned to play for Natal in 2010, almost 10 years after he changed allegiances.

4. Adam Gilchrist

This popular cricketer was booed in his very first Test match. That’s right. Gilly made his debut against Pakistan on 5 November, 1999. The venue was Brisbane, and he had made the team replacing Ian Healy, who was the local player and was dropped following a dip in form, and despite his appeals to selectors to allow him a final game in front of his home crowd. That instantly explains why Gilchrist was not received well by the crowd.

But he rose to the occasion, unaffected by the jeering of the crowd. A quick-fire 81 off 88 in the first innings and a total of 6 dismissals in the match (5 catches and a stumping), Gilly sent a loud and clear signal to everybody that he was here to stay. Australia won the game by 10 wickets.

Gilly retired having affected the most no. of behind-the-wicket dismissals by an Australian in Test cricket (416) and was the only player to have hit more than 100 sixes in this format.

3. Muttiah Muralitharan

The year was 1995, and the occasion was the Boxing Day test at Melbourne, the second test of the series between Sri Lanka and Australia. His action went under a lot of censure, as he bent his arm and then straightened it while letting go of the ball, which was against the rules. At least umpire Hair thought he saw it that way. He no-balled Muralitharan 7 times in 3 overs, and each of his deliveries was followed by loud boos from the crowd who were either not interested in this spinner or felt their time was being wasted. Or they were just enjoying giving him trouble, as it is a known fact that Australian crowds are no friend of overseas players. They like to give a hard time to outsiders.

It was probably the booing, combined with all the struggles earlier in his life that enabled him to reach such great heights in the game and become the highest wicket taker of all time (total 1347 in ODIs, Tests and T20s combined). Back in those years when people had serious concerns over his action and doubts regarding how long his career would last, nobody could have thought he would come this far.

Just a year later Sri Lanka won the World Cup of 1996, and he was one of the reasons why they were able to pull it off.

2. Sachin Tendulkar

Yes. He makes this list. And he was booed not in his early days, but in 2006. Not because of any bias or any other reason, but because he got out cheaply to James Anderson, following a poor run of from. And not anywhere else, but at his home ground-the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

India lost the Test match to England, and the series was levelled 1-1. Sachin lasted 21 balls and just made a single run before getting out. The crowd didn’t spare him as he took the long walk back to the pavilion. It was probably the first time he was booed.

But since it was him and not some ordinary player who would have taken it to heart, Sachin took it in his stride. He said after the match that he had more well-wishers than that small section of the crowd, and they would have to be ignored.

This was an off-day in the master’s long glorious career.

1. Sunil Gavaskar

This was an absolute stunner. In the innings that was his last (against England in the 1987 World Cup semi-final), Gavaskar was clean bold on the bowling of Phillip DeFreitas for a score of just four. India, who were chasing 254 to win, lost their first wicket as Gavaskar when the team total was just a mere 7 runs. In the end, they managed just 219, and England won the game by 35 runs. The venue was again Mumbai.

Sunny was booed off the field by an angered crowd after DeFreitas knocked off his off-stump. It proved to be a very ugly send-off for one of the greatest players of the game, appearing in his last international, that too at the hands of his very own home crowd. He would surely have wanted better memories of being on the field in his last moments of play.