Cricket is the most played sport in the world. The game of cricket inside the ground is full of ups and downs. Frustration when a batsman is dismissed, anger of a fast bowler, arguments and disagreements with the umpire's decision are common occurrences on the field. For the fans of cricket, today we are going to tell some such Top 5 Most Controversial Decisions in Cricket History related to this game.
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Most Controversial Decisions, In a One Day International (ODI) match between Australia and New Zealand in 1981, Australia needed six runs off the last ball to win the match. Instead of bowling a regular delivery, the Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor Chappell to bowl an underarm delivery that rolled along the ground, making it impossible for the New Zealand batsman to hit a six. The decision was met with widespread condemnation, and the underarm delivery has been banned in international cricket since then.
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During the 1999 World Cup match between Pakistan and Australia, Pakistani batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq was run out by Australian bowler Glenn McGrath. The run-out was highly controversial as it involved a collision between Inzamam and Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, and the third umpire ruled in favor of the Australians.
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The most controversial decision in cricket history was when the umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove accused Pakistan of ball tampering during the fourth Test against England at The Oval in 2006. They awarded five penalty runs to England and changed the ball, which led to Pakistan refusing to continue play after tea. The umpires subsequently declared the match forfeited by Pakistan, which was the first such occurrence in Test cricket history.
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The Sydney Test of 2008 between Australia and India was mired in controversy. The umpires, Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson, gave several questionable decisions, including the dismissal of Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly. In addition, Australian player Andrew Symonds accused Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of racially abusing him, which led to a three-match ban for Harbhajan.
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The final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup between England and New Zealand was full of controversy. One of the most significant moments came during the last over of the match when England needed nine runs to win from three balls. Ben Stokes hit the ball to deep mid-wicket and ran for two. As he dived to make his ground for the second run, the ball hit his bat and deflected off to the boundary, giving England an extra four runs. Many questioned whether the boundary count rule should have been used to determine the winner of the match, which England won on the basis of hitting more boundaries.
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