10 Bizarre Moments in Cricket History That Shocked The World

From Pollard taping himself, Holding kicking the stumps to Bangladesh not knowing the target, we revisit the 10 bizarre moments in cricket.

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Koushik Biswas
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Cricket is a funny game, they say. Sometimes it is a funny game. The game has seen some wonderful moments after its invention. There has bee some moment which has changed the game completely. But, there are also some weird bizarre moments, that never happened in cricket and might not happen again. As the game between #NZvBAN T20I was paused because of a miscalculation of runs in the DLS method, we give you 10 Bizarre Moments in Cricket History That Never Happened.

10 Bizarre Moments in Cricket History

#1 Pollard got taped

Pollard got taped: 10 bizarre moments in cricket history- SportzPoint

Image: IPLt20.com

During a game against RCB in the 2015 Indian Premier League, Kieron Pollard taped his mouth. While he was trying to get under the skin of his fellow West Indian batter Chris Gayle, the umpires were not happy about that. As the umpires asked him to be quiet, Pollard taped his mouth and did not utter a word to Gayle after that.

Every one at the ground was shocked and saw the funny side of it. However, Gayle did not saw anything funny on that. This is one of the weird moments in cricket history.

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#2 Bees want to play

Bees want to play: Weird cricket moments- SportzPoint

Image: ESPN

Cricket is a famous game for Indian people, so for the Indian bees as well. During a Test match between India and England at Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla stadium, bees attacked the ground. The incident made the players, officials and ground staff hot the ground to not get stung.

This incident repeated again during a 2019 Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street, Durham.

#3 Inzi wants to hit him

Inzamam went to hit a fan with a bat: Bizarre Cricket Moments - SportzPoint

Generally, Inzamam-Ul-Haq is a very quiet and chilled person. But, even a person like him lost his cool. In 1997 the test match between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan was played in Toronto, Canada. The match was going normally until an angry Inzamam-Ul-Haq went towards the crowd to hit a fan.

One of the fans from the crowd was mocking Inzi with words like "Aloo". Inzi lost control of himself after few minutes and went to beat him. Luckily, the security personnel stooped him. Post that incident, Inzamam was banned for two Tests by ICC.

Read Also: Top 5 Most runs at Number 3 in ODIs: Kohli Crosses 10000 runs at number 3

#4 The Score Mistake

The score mishap during t20i match between Nez Zealand and Bangladesh- SportzPoint

Image - Twitter

This is the most recent one in our list of 10 bizarre moments in cricket history. New Zealand batted first in a T20I match against Bangladesh at  McLean Park, New Zealand. Due to rain, the first inning had to stop at 17.5 overs. The Black caps were at 173/5. As the Bangladesh team came to bat they were unsure about the target they need to chase.

After 9 balls into the chase, the game was paused as the target was said to be 170. Though the Bangladesh team knew the target was 148. Later, the target was revised to 171 after 13 overs. This is one of the rare occasion in cricket history where the batting team was not sure about the target.

However, it was some technical issue that caused the confusion which meant the DLS sheet could not be handed over to the teams.

#5 The South African Heart Break- 1992 World Cup Semi-final

The South African Heart Break- 1992 World Cup Semi-final: SportzPoint

Image Courtesy: Cricket.com.au

South Africa is one of the teams not to win a single ICC trophy despite their great team and individual players. In the 1992 World Cup Semi-Finals, they suffered another heart-break.

However, this time they could not do anything about it. It was again the DLS method. The DLS method was taken into the game to solve the issue when the game could not be played full over. The rain stopped play with the Proteas needing 22 off 13 balls for the position in the final. But, as the play resumed the scoreboard showed they needed an impossible 22 off 1 ball.

This is one of the heartbreaking moment in World Cup History. The Proteas team never played a World Cup final after that.

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#6 Masseur's Debut in a Test Match

Grant Baldwin, the Australian team masseur and logistics assistant fielded  in place of Mithcell Starc - SportzPoint

Image Courtesy: Daily Mail

This is not only a bizarre cricket moment but also a funny moment. With team Australia sending their extra players in squad to play domestic matches, they were in bit of trouble.

The occasion was set. It was the first-ever day-night test match. Grant Baldwin, the Australian team masseur and logistics assistant, was doing his normal duty. But as Mitchell Starc got injured, the team was forced to send in Baldwin to filed in place of Starc.

Baldwin was a Second Grade player for Victoria. This might be a special moment for him to field for his country in a test match. Not everyone has achieved that.

Buy the book- The Cricket War: The Story of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket

#7 Holding free kicks the stumps

Holding free kicks the stumps: SportzPoint

The mighty West Indies toured New Zealand post wining the series in Australia in 1980. The World Champions were looking to beat them in three days. However, likes of Richard Hadlee and John Wright made sure the battle went till the last day.

On the fifth day Michael Holding was bowling some bullets. John Parker, seemed to have gloved on of his balls to the wicketkeeper. Holding was so confident that he celebrated even without appealing. However, he was shocked to see that umpire John Hastie did not move, as he adjudged the appeal as not out.

Holding couldn't control hid anger. He aggressively kicked the batsman's end stumps. The middle stump went flying. The amature photograph of that incident is one of the iconic cricket photos ever.

Colin Croft even said that the picture could have made Holding eligible for a Manchester United trials.

#8 Eden Gardens and the 1996 World Cup Semi-finals

Eden Gradens were set on fire by crowd: Bizarre moments in cricket history.- SportzPoint

Eden Gardens is regarded as one of the iconic stadiums in the world. The stage was set, India was facing the neighbours Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup Semi-finals.

Chasing 252, India had a split start. However with India on 97/1, Sachin got dismissed by Sanath Jayasuriya. Sachin's wicket turned out to be the moment of the match as India lost 7 wickets in just 23 runs.

The crowd at Eden Gardens went crazy. Perhaps, it went out of control as they started throwing bottles. Moreover, some of them set fire to the seats as well.

After observing the situation, match referee Clive Lloyd stopped the match. Therefore, due to the match situation the match was awarded to the Sri Lanka team, with Vinod Kambli not out at 10 of 29 balls.

Kambli leaving the ground crying is another iconic cricket picture.

#9 Ranatunga walking off to support Muralitharan

Ranatunga walking off to support Muralitharan: SportzPoint

Image Credit:- The Cricket Monthly

During the 1999 Sri Lankan tour to Australia, one man was in the news more often than not. Muthaiah Muralitharan, a off-spinner with an unique action was alleged of chucking by umpire Ross Emerson. Emerson had called no-balls before against Murali in their previous tour.

In the 19th over, as soon as Murali bowled the second ball, Emerson from square leg called no-ball.

Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga seemed furious on that. Perhaps, the game stopped for "12 minutes" as he gestured his teammates to walk off the ground. The captain supported the dejected bowler, as perhaps went on to become the greatest spinner of all time.

#10 Harbhajan's slap to Sreesanth: "Slapgate"

The Slap Gate: Sreesanth crying- Bizarre moments in cricket history: SportzPoint

The Slapgate: Image- PTI

The "Slapgate" is one of the most controversial incidents in IPL history. In 2008, Harbhajan was the captain of the Mumbai Indians team. While Sreesanth was one of the exciting young talents playing for Kings XI Punjab.

Sreesanth was always upfront when comes to his celebrations. The send-offs were always special. However, Bhajji did not like his send-offs against his players. As Sreesanth bowled them out for a fantastic win, an angry Harbhajan slapped him down the boundary line post-match.

Though there is no footage of the slap, everyone watching the match saw both of them breaking down after the match. Due to this incident, then Mumbai Indian coach, Lalchand Rajpoot lost his job. Though Harbhajan apologised later and the matter was sorted, it still remains one of the bizarre moments in cricket history.

Icc Sportzpoint Cricket Cricket Eden Gardens Kieron Pollard Cricket Facts Cricket History Nzvban Grant Baldwin Michael Holding