Cricket is one game where players have to play for the team. Players work together to achieve the goal of victory for the squad and There have been instances where players have placed themselves ahead of their team and caused for a mix-up between them and another player. Here are some of the most popular match-losing innings:
Michael Vandort:
The relatively unknown Sri Lankan batsman managed just one ODI innings in his career and for good reason. Playing against the Australians, the Lankans were chasing a score of 319 and needed their batsmen to get going right from the first ball.
Vandort however had other ideas and decided to waste balls for no reason that made logical sense. He ended up scoring just 48 off a massive 117 balls and effectively lost the game for Sri Lanka on his own.
David Warner:
One of the most popular batsmen, Warner is also one who has a brilliant strike rate. However, in a match against Sri Lanka in 2012, he scored a century… but in 140 balls. It wasn’t even a problem with the pitch as Michael Clarke hit 117 off just 91 in the same match.
Warner’s score bought Australia to a decent 271 but that was mostly because of his skipper. The Lankans cruised to a victory thanks to splendid innings from Sangakkara and Jayawardene who showed that Warner was just having a bad, selfish day.
Sachin Tendulkar:
Sure, a lot of fans will not be happy to see the God’s name feature on this list but the truth is that Sachin did intentionally play carefully to record his 100th century and we can forgive him. Playing minnows Bangladesh, India hit 289 backed by Sachin’s 114.
His score was however, completed in 147 balls, going to show the approach he had taken to get to the holy milestone. India ended up losing the match but Sachin did get to break the ultimate record in his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYZEdKyfH4
Jacques Kallis:
The South African legend is another player who had been accused of being selfish during a match. Jacques Kallis and South Africa were chasing a massive 378 against the Australians in the 2007 World Cup and needed their batsmen to score big to stand a chance of winning.
AB De Villiers and Graeme Smith did just that by scoring a wonderful 160 in just 20 overs. Kallis entered post the former’s fall and then proceeded to play carefully for some inexplicable reason. His 48 off 63 balls ended up causing SA’s downfall as they fell a good 80 runs short of the target.
Sunil Gavaskar:
In one of the most bizarre innings in cricket history, Sunil Gavaskar scored a measly 36 runs off 174 balls! The Indian legend scored at such a terrible rate in the 1975 World Cup against England, that too chasing a massive score of 335. India obviously went on to lose the game by a massive 202 runs.
When asked later, Gavaskar claimed the wicket was too slow to play his shots but admitted it was a bad innings considering the situation.
