5 Times Cricketers Won Our Hearts By Showing True Sportsmanship: The cricketers, when they are playing for their country, are generally super-competitive on the field and hardly ever give an inch to the opposition. However, amid the intense and the pressure environment, we have often seen some great examples of sportsman spirit as well from the cricketers of various countries.
Such acts of sportsmanship stay in our memory for a long, long time. Let’s have a look at the 5 best instances of sportsmanship in cricket:
Imran Khan vs India in 1989
In an ODI in Lahore in 1989, the Indian opener Kriss Srikkanth was adjudged leg before wicket by the umpire while he had actually managed to get an inside edge onto the ball before it hit his pad.
Srikkanth was really annoyed by the decision and gestured towards the umpire that the ball hit his bat first.
The Pakistan captain Imran Khan also realized that the decision was wrong and he talked to the umpire, following which the decision was overturned.
Adam Gilchrist vs Sri Lanka in 2003
It was the semi-final match of the ODI World Cup, 2003 and probably one of the biggest games of Adam Gilchrist’s career. He tried to sweep Aravinda de Silva and was caught by Kumar Sangakkara behind the stumps.
The umpire, however, shook his head ruling Gilchrist not out and the Sri Lankan fielders were really disappointed. The disappointment soon turned into jubilation when they saw that Gilchrist was actually heading back to the pavilion himself.
Andrew Flintoff vs Australia in 2005
Who can forget the picture of Andrew Flintoff sitting down on the ground with Brett Lee consoling the Aussie for the narrow defeat the Kangaroos suffered in the second Ashes Test match at Edgbaston in 2005.
Australia lost that match by just 2 runs and Lee, who had batted superbly in the fourth innings despite being a tail-ender, was inconsolable after the defeat.
MS Dhoni vs England in 2011
During the Test series between India and England in 2011, Ian Bell left a run incomplete thinking the ball was dead, while it wasn’t.
It was a leg-side whip by Bell’s partner Eoin Morgan and Bell stopped running in the middle of a run as he thought the ball hit the fence.
But, the ball did not actually hit the fence and still remained in play. India ran Bell out as he was outside his crease and it was perfectly fair as per the rules.
However, the Indian captain MS Dhoni later called Bell back as the English batsman misunderstood the scenario.
Virender Sehwag vs Sri Lanka in 2012
During one of the games of the tri-series in Australia in 2012, the Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin Mankaded the Sri Lankan southpaw Lahiru Thirimanne as he went outside his crease before the ball left the bowler’s hand.
However since Ashwin did not give any warning to the batsman before Mankading, Virender Sehwag, who was the stand-in captain of India in that game, decided to withdraw the appeal and Thirimanne continued batting.
