Five players whose career ended due to a controversy
Controversies have become a part and parcel of our game. Every now and then, we have seen cricketers getting involved in one or another controversy. However, there are certain players whose career got affected due to the controversy. Let us see the five players whose career ended due to a controversy:
5. Kevin Pietersen
Even though he is a South African, he will go down as one of the best batsmen England has ever produced. After having played over 100 Tests, Pietersen’s relationship with the coach Andy Flower had become very sour. In 2012, he announced his retirement as he wasn’t allowed to play in the IPL. Later that year, he was caught in a scandal where he had shared derogatory messages about Flower and then captain Andrew Strauss. Despite giving good performances in the Ashes 2013-14, he was never picked up by the England selectors. Since then, he has been revealed that Flower had asked the selectors to choose between him and the right-handed batsman.
4. Hansie Cronje
Hansie Cronje is without a doubt one of the most inspirational cricketers, not just for South Africa but also world cricket. He made the South African team a force to reckon with, both in home and away conditions. However, the way in which his career ended was unfortunate. He was handed over a life ban after he was charged with match-fixing. Cronje ended up accepting all the charges against him, which included taking money from bookies to influence the result of the game. He eventually left us in 2002 when he died in a plane crash.
3. Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds was one heck of a player for Australia, but his career had more than a few controversies. In 2005, he was dropped from the side for drinking a day before a game. In 2008, he was left out as he didn’t attend the team meeting and went fishing. In 2009, he was caught in another controversy where he called Brendon McCullum “lump of s**t” while being drunk during an interview. Cricket Australia decided to lay down some clauses after this, that the cricketer wasn’t allowed to drink at public places. But, he was caught drinking in a Rugby match which caused him not to play for his country ever again.
2. Mohammad Asif
The right-arm pacer was considered one of the best swing bowlers in the world till 2010. But, his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal resulted in him getting a five-year ban from cricket. He also received one year imprisonment for his actions. He would never come back to play for his country again, even though Mohammad Amir, who was also part of the same scandal, got an opportunity afterwards.
1. Andy Flower
Andy Flower is arguably the best batsman Zimbabwe has ever produced. However, when he was on top of his game, he decided to retire from international cricket. Ahead of the 2003 World Cup, which Zimbabwe co-hosted, the political situation wasn’t quite good. In order to show their protest, Flower and his teammate, Henry Olonga decided to wear black armbands.
This didn’t go down well with a lot of people in their country. The backlash forced Flower and Olonga to retire in an abrupt manner. The batsman found his way to England.
