CRICKET has transformed into one of the most high-stakes and commercially successful sports in the world. The sport has a massive television audience, star power and high-profile T20 matches. Fans love the cricketers and well-played shots like the cover drive or fast bowlers' run-ups.
Many players are widely celebrated across the world, leaving geographical boundaries behind, and fans take the defeat or victory of their favourite cricketer quite seriously.
Cricket's glamorous world has made many players wealthy, but some players have also fallen hard because of controversies surrounding them. In this article, we'll look at a list of some of these cricketers who faced their downfall at the peak of their careers because of controversies, allegations and greed for money.
The first on the list is Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (1969–2002), who was a prominent cricketer and the captain of the South African national cricket team during the 1990s. He was a right-handed all-rounder and captained South Africa in 52 Test matches, winning 27 of them. However, his career started to crumble in 2000 after a match-fixing scandal. An investigation was conducted into the cricketer, leading to evidence against him. He was banned from playing cricket for life in October 2000.
Cronje was around 30 years old when the authorities found that he had taken bribes from bookmakers, provided them with information and was involved in match-fixing. The Delhi Police revealed that during a wiretapping operation in March 2000, the cricketer was heard conspiring with an Indian bookmaker, Sanjeev Chawla. At first, the cricketer completely dismissed all allegations, but Cronje subsequently confessed to Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, in a phone call. He was immediately stripped of his captaincy while his team was preparing for a match against Australia in 2000.
Shanthakumaran Nair Sreesanth, a former Indian cricketer born in 1983, was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and a right-handed tail-end batter. He played in 53 ODIs and 27 Tests. But later he got involved in a spot-fixing case, ruining his career which was at its peak. The Kerala pacer used to play for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was arrested by the Delhi Police along with two other RR players, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, in May, 2013, in the IPL spot-fixing case.
Following their arrest, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended all three cricketers, and their contracts with RR were also suspended. Later, he was granted bail by the Delhi trial court in June, 2013, and a chargesheet was filed in the IPL spot-fixing case with his name in it. The BCCI banned Sreeshanth for life.
The Delhi court dropped charges against him because of lack of evidence in July, 2015, but the BCCI said the life ban would remain. He challenged the ban in the Kerala High Court, while the BCCI challenged the court's judgement. The Supreme Court later asked the BCCI to reconsider the length of the ban, which was reduced to seven years, ending in 2020.
Chris Cairns is considered one of the most charismatic characters in New Zealand cricket. He is one of the finest all-rounders in the world, having scored 3,000 runs and taken 200 wickets in Test cricket. He became only the sixth player in Test cricket history to achieve this milestone. He lost his credibility and career because of a match-fixing allegation by former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
In 2010, Modi made a post on X accusing the New Zealand cricketer of being involved in match-fixing during the 2008 IPL season. Cairns completely denied the allegations, while his former teammates Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum gave evidence and testimony against him. They accused Cairns of trying to involve them in match-fixing, but he was later cleared by the Southwark Crown Court in London, UK.
Following the case, Cairns filed a libel suit against Lalit Modi and successfully sued him for $130,000. Cairns later said that the case had completely ruined his reputation and that he would never return to cricket.
Brendan Taylor was a Zimbabwean cricketer who was a right-handed batsman and an off-spinner. His career had a significant impact on the Zimbabwean team and its fortunes, and he was considered one of the country's finest players. However, he was later banned from cricket for three and a half years in 2022 after accepting four charges under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and one under the Anti-Doping Code.
The corruption charges against Taylor stemmed from a trip to India in 2019, where he met an individual who offered him USD 35,000 for match-fixing. Initially, Taylor refused to get involved after his agent advised him against the individual. However, the same man later invited him on a three-night trip to India at his expense. The man gave Taylor clothes, a new phone and cash in rupees, as well as entertainment and activities. He also provided cocaine, which Taylor publicly admitted to using. At the end of his stay, the man offered him a match-fixing deal and gave him USD 15,000 in cash as an advance.
Initially, Taylor claimed that the money was an appearance fee for his trip to India, but later accepted that what he had initially thought was an appearance fee was actually a payment following a request for match-fixing. In addition to this, Taylor also tested positive for cocaine during an in-competition test in September 2021.
Aftab Ahmed was a former Bangladeshi cricketer who became famous after a U-19 World Cup match against South Africa in 2002, where he scored a 79-run knock. He made his international debut in 2004 after a successful Youth World Cup, where he was awarded his debut cap. He was an attacking middle-order batsman and a medium pacer. Throughout his career, he played 16 Tests, 85 ODIs and 11 T20s for Bangladesh.
He was known for some notable ODI innings, including matches against the West Indies and Zimbabwe. However, his career went downhill after he signed a contract with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), leaving his country's jersey and taking on India's in 2008. Because of this move, he was banned from Bangladeshi cricket for 10 years. He later quit the Indian league and waited for international selections. He returned to the squad for a 2019 tri-series against England and New Zealand. He made his final international appearance during the 2010 World T20.
[OG/VP/VS]
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