Cricket is a gentleman’s game they say, but despite that, we have seen incidents where it has been proved otherwise. Fans are often emotional about the team they support and if the performance is not on their expected lines, often we see crowd turn violent. Indian cricket has stood witness to many such incidents. In this article lets discuss 5 such incidents, which brought shame to Indian and international cricket as the match disrupted due to fan outrage.
The first match in the list is during the 2001 NatWest series. The worst of the pitch invasions came during an encounter between Pakistan and England in the round-robin stage. Waqar Younis’s stellar performance ensured that England were bundled out for a paltry 156. Pakistan never looked in trouble while chasing when all hell broke loose. A large bunch of over-enthusiastic fans rushed on to the pitch forcing the players to evacuate the field. Due to the incidents that had occurred, England skipper Alec Stewart decided to concede the match to the opponents instead of taking the field again.
The second match in the list is between Australia and West Indies in 1978. Australia had set the home side a target of 369 to win the Test and were on the verge of victory with West Indies on 258 for 9. The ninth batsman to get out was Vanburn Holder and although the decision was a correct one, Holder was only disgusted with himself as he hit his gloves against his hip, the crowd completely misjudged his action and thought that it was a wrong decision. What followed was a barrage of stones, bottles, chairs and other material being pelted on to the ground by the spectators. The atmosphere turned so violent that the Australian players had to be rushed to safety.
The third match in the list is between Pakistan And England in Karachi. England batted for the first 2 days of the match reaching 412 for 6 by the end of the second day’s play.Tension was in the air as Day 3 began and the crowd gave in by the time Alan Knott was 4 short of a Test century. A riot broke as the crowd, which included the students, invaded the playing area and destroyed the pitch while also setting fire to the VIP enclosures. The situation was so combustible that the match had to be abandoned and the English team took a flight back home on the same night.
The fourth match in the list is between India and West Indies in Kolkata. Easily the deadliest instance of crowd violence in the history of cricket. With the mighty West Indies having taken a 1-0 lead by winning the 1st Test, the two teams met once again in the 2nd Test at Kolkata. Things did not get too awry on Day 1 of the Test however, it was a period of calm before the storm. On Day 2, the crowd seating situation was even worse and prompted security personnel to commit the cardinal sin of lathi-charging people.
The last match in the list is between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata, 1996. Sachin’s dismissal sparked off a remarkable batting collapse as in a matter of overs, the Indians went from 98 for 2 to 120 for 8. At this stage, the crowd decided that they had seen enough and something needs to be done. They vented out their frustration by throwing bottles on to the field and setting fire to the seating in the stands. The situation was so bad that play had to be called off and the match was awarded to the Sri Lankans by default. The crowd at the Eden drew a lot of flak from all quarters for their unruly behaviour.
