Players who were axed because of their tussle with Cricket Board

The sparkling stint of a cricketer is dependent on a lot of factors right from skills, dedication, and not to forget luck. It has been noticed quite a few times that even though a player is shining in his best form, he doesn’t find a place in the squad. The reason for the same is a cold-war between players and their own cricket board.

The player is at the receiving end of this misunderstanding most of the time and has to suffer a lot in the career. Things sometimes reach to that extent where a player is being denied all the deserved opportunities, and he/she starts giving retirement a thought. Let’s look at some of these cases.

4. Dwayne Bravo

The Caribbean cricketer Dwayne Bravo is praised across the world for his capabilities with both bat and ball. He has shown his class for his national side time and again, but the shocking fact is, he has never been on good terms with the West Indies Cricket Board. He has always pointed fingers on them for their selection policies.

It was because of his open and straight nature that he was dropped from the team by WICB on several occasions. When he finally chose to speak up against it, it resulted in a complete full stop on his dazzling career. However, he came out of retirement in the T20Is late last year.

3. Kevin Pietersen

Pietersen has been regarded as one of the iconic players in the history of English cricket. His heroics in the 2005 Ashes and the country’s first ICC title under him in T20 World Cup in 2010 made him a heartthrob of the nation.

However, he didn’t share good terms with the ECB, and his social media posts made him a villain. The board raised questions on his integrity towards English cricket. At last, his text exchange with Proteas players turned out to be the showdown for him, and teammates turned their back against him. Pietersen’s international career ended abruptly after that controversy.

2. Shoaib Akhtar

The Pakistan speedster looked all set to rule the bowling world when his mere presence used to send shivers down the batsman’s spine. But he didn’t prove to be good enough in PCB’s eyes as he often got involved in on-field outbursts and abuse.

Teammates were also not in favour of his hell-bent attitude, but instead of understanding his problems, PCB tried to have an ego war with him. The Rawalpindi Express was always at the receiving end, and it resulted in ending his career a little too early.

1. Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle has time and again landed in controversies due to his off-field antics. But he was involved in the tussle with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) once as well. Post the 2011 World Cup, when the selectors decided to drop the senior players including Gayle, there was a lot of unrest among the players.

At the same time, apart from signing an IPL contract with RCB against the board’s wish, the Universe Boss had given a radio interview with KLS Sports slamming the WICB and the team management. The board was upset with his conduct and had not considered him for the first two ODIs against India. Later Gayle had to apologise to the board after which he was included in the side again.