In India, cricket has been regarded as a religion, and cricketers demigods. But it doesn’t take long enough for people to take all the respect when a cricketer gives in to immature celebration, ugly spats, unnecessary comments and posts on social media, or something even denser.
1. Shahid Afridi
Though regarded as a lovable man in his country, opinions about the Pakistani cricketer change dramatically about India. Known for his usual controversial comments towards the Indian team, the all-rounder claimed some Indian players would come to him asking for forgiveness when they lost against Pakistan. He has also had a noisy argument with the Indian legend Gautam Gambhir, during an ODI. Shahid seems to have pledged to become the most disliked in India when recently he took to Twitter and stated, “Indian Team was lucky” regarding his atrocious performance in the World Cups. This certainly did not please the Indian fans.
2. Andre Nel
While the South African fast bowler has been caught in many incidents off the field, including smoking marijuana on his West Indies tour and being pulled over for drunk driving, he is also famous for incidents with S. Sreesanth during the SA tour of 2006-07. Known for his expressions on a field, Andre gave the Indian cricketer a few stare-downs and engaged in a verbal argument, followed by Sreesanth hitting a six. Eventually, things calmed down, but Nel’s reputation in India was never worse.
3. Andrew Flintoff
The former English cricketer and television presenter is infamous for taking off his shirt and swinging it around whilst on the victory lap after winning an ODI against India in 2002. This led to the even more prominent Sourav Ganguly incident at the Lord’s balcony. The all-rounder was also involved in a heated argument with Yuvraj Singh during T20 World Cup 2007, threatening to “cut his throat off”, which obviously wasn’t well-received by Indian Fans.
4. Greg Chappel
The former Australian cricketer and ex-India head coach has been believed to have shaped the future of the Indian team by some. In contrast, India's Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar himself, blame him for India’s infamous exit from the 2007 ODI World Cup and the downfall of Irfan Pathan. Chappel was also involved in an unpleasant quarrel with Sourav Ganguly, leaving the atmosphere sour when he was at the wheel.
5. Mushfiqur Rahim
Having played for many years at the top level, it comes as a surprise that the Bangladeshi player still comes off as immature and childish. He famously celebrated before crossing the finish line, worsening it by posting a picture mocking India for their defeat to West Indies. The wicket-keeper and batsman have been seen to lose his cool and use expletives against opponents. Indian Fans don’t take any of it lightly and therefore condemn him.
6. Ricky Ponting
The Australian cricket coach has been the reason for massive heartbreak among the Indians fans. Although, he has come to be disliked only because of his impeccable leadership, accounting for Australia's numerous victories. In the 2003 World Cup final, Ponting scored 140 runs not out against India, making a new record. Besides, Ricky is claimed to be arrogant owing to some incidents of misconduct, including the 2006 prize distribution ceremony of the Champions Trophy.
7. Javed Miandad
Potentially one of the greatest cricketers from his nation, Javed never held back from expressing his emotions on the field. In an arrogant incident, the Pakistani player asked Dilip Doshi’s room number to hit the ball to his room. In the 1992 World Cup, he mimicked Kiran More, triggering the Indian fans. The wicket-keeper batsman has also received hatred in India for disrespecting Sachin Tendulkar and stating he won’t be remembered post his retirement.
8. Steve Smith
Reasons might be vague, but the Australian great is generally disliked due to his unbelievable records against India. Steve has scored at an average of nearly 73 runs in Tests, including eight centuries in 14 matches. On a recent note, the player has been involved in the Border-Gavaskar controversy. The hate received from Indian fans became even more apparent when he was caught trying to remove Rishabh Pant’s guard mark.
9. Andrew Symonds
Despite being one of the greatest batting all-rounders of all time, it’s safe to say most Indian fans don’t like him. Of all the unwanted controversies in his career, the most prominent is the “monkey-gate” scandal in 2007. He had an unpleasant argument with Harbhajan Singh and claimed he called him a monkey. The word was racially abusive to Symonds but Indians claimed Harbhajan used a local slang phonetically similar to it. However, it led to Indian fans trolling and wrongfully abusing the Australian cricketer.
10. Shane Warne
Warne is undoubtedly one of the legends in cricket. However, his on-field behaviour often led him to be criticized by people. In addition, he has been charged with sexual harassment and consumption of drugs during the 2003 OFI World Cup.
