Heartbreaking moments for top teams in the 21st Century

#2 Pakistan spot-fixing scandal, 2010

Amir's dreaded no-ball.

That Pakistan cricket and controversies go hand-in-hand is a given, but it slipped to a new-low when three of Pakistan's players including their captain Salman Butt were accused of taking bribes from a bookie to deliberately bowl no-balls during the course of the Lords Test in 2010.

Pakistan had been outplayed in the summer of 2010, yet three players: their urbane captain Salman Butt, seamer Mohammed Asif and the young prodigy in Mohammad Amir stood out. But a magnanimous sporting scandal since the turn of the century was brewing in the backstage involving the three aforementioned personalities. In a shocking series of revelations made by bookie Mazhar Majeed (Salman Butt's agent), who boasted that he controlled the players and paid a hefty amount to deliver three no-balls during the course of Lords Test. While the first two no-balls hardly drew any suspicion, the third no-ball bowled by the rookie teenager Mohammad Amir due to its magnanimity turned heads. Amir hadn't bowled a no-ball before in First-Class cricket and his first to Alastair Cook was a massive overstep.

If the first no-ball by Amir turned heads, his second one confirmed that something was brewing. England on the back of Stuart Broad's maiden Test hundred and a 5-for by Graeme Swann got a stranglehold on Pakistan, who were 1-4 in the second innings at the end of the fourth day. Buy the controversy was about to blow with the Police conducting a search across the stadium with an objective to get a hold of evidence. Pakistan turned up on the last day, shell-shocked at the proceedings and capitulated to England in the first session. The series that saw Amir emerge as the Player of the series for Pakistan, the teenager along with Asif and Salman Butt were reprimanded and banned for five years. Amir pleaded guilty to corruption charges and spent three months in a young offenders institute, while Butt and Asif were jailed. In July 2016 Amir completed the full circle as he played a pivoted role in Pakistan's magnanimous win at the very venue that had sent him into a self-inflicted exile.