In 2022, cricket had some great moments and some not-so-good ones. England made headlines with their bold ‘Bazball’ strategy in Test cricket led by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. They also won the T20 World Cup in Australia after a tough start.
But the year wasn’t just about successes. There were controversies too, especially in Indian cricket. Virat Kohli was removed as ODI captain and later spoke out in a press conference. Sourav Ganguly was also replaced as the head of the Indian cricket board by Roger Binny. After India lost in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, the entire selection committee was fired.
Pakistan faced its own troubles with Ramiz Raja being ousted as PCB chairman. Meanwhile, there were reports from Australia about tensions between former coach Justin Langer and the players.
Overall, 2022 was marked by several cricket controversies both on and off the field.
1. Rishabh Pant fined for outburst during no-ball controversy in IPL
Rishabh Pant, a key player for Team India, recently had a serious car accident on December 30. This incident has drawn attention alongside some controversies he faced in 2022.
During an IPL match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, Pant faced criticism for his strong reaction to a high full-toss that wasn’t called a no-ball.
In the match’s final over, RR’s Obed McCoy bowled a delivery that many, including Pant, believed was too high and should have been declared a no-ball. However, the umpires ruled it a fair delivery.
Pant, visibly surprised, gestured to the batsmen Powell and Kuldeep Yadav to leave the field. DC’s Assistant coach Pravin Amre even entered the field but was instructed to leave by the umpires. Eventually, the match continued, and RR won by 15 runs.
Pant lost his entire match fee due to his behavior, and Amre was fined his match fee and given a one-match ban for breaking the IPL Code of Conduct.
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2. Deepti Sharma running out Charlie Dean for backing up too far
In September, Jhulan Goswami played her final international cricket match during the third ODI between India Women and England Women at Lord’s. However, the standout moment came from Deepti Sharma’s run-out of Charlie Dean.
England Women were chasing a target of 170 runs to win, after losing the first two ODIs. They struggled early on and were 65/7, but managed to recover to 153/9. During the 44th over, Deepti Sharma, the bowler, noticed that Charlie Dean, who was not batting, had wandered too far from the crease before the ball was bowled. Deepti stopped her delivery, calmly removed the bails with Dean (scoring 47 runs) out of position.
This run-out was legal according to cricket rules, but it sparked a debate about the ‘Spirit of Cricket’. India claimed they had warned Dean several times, while England disagreed with this claim.
3. Virat Kohli no-ball controversy
The thrilling match between India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground had many exciting moments, along with some controversies. It was one of the best T20 matches ever played. India needed 16 runs from the last over.
Pakistan’s captain, Babar Azam, chose Mohammad Nawaz to bowl the crucial over. On the fourth delivery, Nawaz bowled a high full-toss. Kohli hit it for a six but argued that it was too high, wanting a no-ball.
The umpire at square-leg agreed with Kohli, which upset Pakistan. This decision was controvisal because it was close, and the third umpire didn’t review it.
Later, Kohli was bowled off a free-hit delivery, but India got three runs because the ball hit the stumps and went past the fielders.
India won the match thanks to Kohli’s brilliant innings (82 not out off 53 balls). However, many Pakistan fans felt their team was unfairly denied a victory.
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4. Danushka Gunathilaka was detained on suspicion of sexual assault
During the T20 World Cup 2022, there was a big problem involving Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka. He was accused of rape and arrested at the team hotel in Sydney. Gunathilaka couldn’t play anymore in the tournament because he hurt his hamstring. Even though he was out of the tournament, he stayed with the Sri Lankan team. The New South Wales police took him into custody after a woman said he sexually assaulted her at a house in Rose Bay. They had met through a dating app. The woman said she didn’t agree to have sex without a condom or to some other things he did. She also said he choked her three times. Gunathilaka got bail later, but Sri Lanka Cricket suspended him from playing cricket.
5. With a harsh post, David Warner withdraws his appeal against the captaincy ban
Earlier this month, Australian cricketer David Warner criticized the panel set up to review his appeal against a lifetime ban from captaincy. He accused the panel of trying to expose him and his family to more embarrassment and harm through excessive media attention. Warner and former Australian captain Steve Smith were banned for 12 months due to their involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Following public support from other Australian cricketers, Warner was allowed to appeal his lifetime ban in front of an independent panel organized by Cricket Australia (CA). However, Warner later withdrew his appeal and posted on social media explaining his decision, where he strongly criticized the review panel. he wrote:
“Counsel assisting the review panel appeared to be determined to revisit the events of March 2018 and the review panel appears determined to expose me and my family to further humiliation and harm by conducting a media circus. In effect, counsel assisting, and, it appears, to some extent the Review Panel, want to conduct a public trial of me and what occurred during the Third Test at Newlands.”
“They want to conduct a public spectacle to, in the panel’s words, have a “cleansing”. I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry. Regrettably, I have no practical alternative at this point in time but to withdraw my application.“
The 36-year-old made headlines recently for hitting a double hundred in his 100th Test match, becoming only the second batter ever to achieve this feat after England’s Joe Root. He retired due to injury right after scoring 200 runs in Australia’s first innings during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the MCG.
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