Indian cricketers have become the most popular sports celebrities in the world, thanks to the rapid growth of fan following of cricket in India. Not just the cricketers of the Indian men’s team, but the players of the Indian women’s team have built a major fan following in India.
Several times, the cricketers have expressed their unhappiness with the decision made by the umpires in the cricket matches. The umpires are humans as well and can make errors, but sometimes the decisions led to the cricketers losing their cool and slamming the match officials openly. Here’s a list of three instances when players of India were punished for slamming the umpire’s decisions.
1. One of the Indian women’s cricketers – Harmanpreet Kaur
In a recent ODI match between the Indian women’s cricket team and the Bangladesh women’s cricket team, captain Harmanpreet Kaur openly slammed the umpiring from the officials in the series. Kaur described the umpiring level as ‘pathetic’. Soon after, she received 3 demerit points and fined 75% of match fees.
2. One of the retired Indian cricketers – MS Dhoni
During the Qualifier 1 match between MI and CSK in IPL 2015, Dwayne Smith lost his wicket to Lasith Malinga LBW. The Hawkeye showed that the ball was missing the stumps. MS Dhoni was unhappy with the decision. He called the decision ‘horrible’ at the post-match presentation and was sanctioned for the same.
3. and 4. Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur
Rishabh Pant asked the Delhi Capitals players to come back to the dressing room during the match against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022 league round. Rovman Powell hit a six off Obed McCoy’s bowling. It was a high full-toss, and DC felt that it should have been a no-ball.
Since Delhi Capitals needed 18 runs off 3 balls, a no-ball and a free-hit could have turned the game in their favor. However, the on-field umpires did not call it a no-ball. Pant, Shardul Thakur and DC’s assistant coach Pravin Amre put a lot of pressure on the umpires. After the match, all were punished.
