It’s true that cricket is the more popular in India than any other nation, and our board has a lot of money. That said, there have been many instances where we’ve failed miserably as a host and the ongoing Test match between India and Sri Lanka, where the players had to wear masks and resort to vomiting due to pollution, is just one such instance. 

Let’s take a look at some others.

Australian Team’s Bus Gets Pelted By Stones

Australia had beaten India in a T20 match in Guwahati, and the players were returning to their hotel. Some fans who were not happy with the result, resorted to throw rocks at the bus. Thankfully, none of the players were hurt. 

Pune Pitch Plays Spoilsport

Not just the crowd or the nature, sometimes curators turn villians and leak out information that needs to be confidential. Pandurang Salgaoncar, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) curator had to be suspended for malpractice because he was caught in a sting operation, where he leaked out information about how the pitch is going to play so that betting can be done. 

People Start Burning Things Because They Can’t Handle A Loss

During the India vs Sri Lanka semi-final during the 1996 World Cup, people started burning things in the stadium after they knew for sure that India were fighting a losing battle. India were 120 for the loss of 8 wickets, and were chasing a stiff target of 252. 

Cuttack Crowd Starts Throwing Bottles

India were facing South Africa in a T20I and the crowd couldn’t handle the host country’s miserable batting display (they were bowled out for 92). So they started throwing bottles on the ground. The play had to be stopped twice, and after the match, MS Dhoni had some strong words of criticism for the crowd.  He said that after someone throws one bottle, people join in the fun and start throwing more bottles. 

We think that it’s understandable for the crowd to be a little pissed to see their team lose, after all a lot of people watch sports to bask in the glory of their team winning. But resorting to hooliganism is something we don’t understand, and feel that the host city should be served some sort of a ban.

Rajkot crowd create trouble despite India winning 

In another incident, India had to hang its head in shame in Rajkot after the play had to be called off due to bottle throwing. This hooliganism was unjustifiable because India were cruising to a win. They were 200 for the loss of one wicket in 28 overs, and were chasing 300 to win. The crowd started throwing bottles for fun, and soon enough, the play had to be called off. 

We can hope such instances doesn’t happen in the future, but knowing our country so well, we think that they probably will.