It’s a rare occurrence but sometimes cricketers come down with a bout of selfishness, and when we witness it, generally ugly moments emerge. Protecting your self-interest is natural, but you must know cricket has always been a team game and it’s also true an individual is keen to make his own case, whether it is to preserve their place in the team or to achieve personal goals.
Sometimes it will not affect the team’s cause but there are certain examples where a player’s action robbed off their team’s chances of winning. Take a quick look at five selfish acts by cricketers over the years, which include Tendulkar and Gavaskar among others.
5 Instances When Cricket Greats Turned Selfish
Sachin fumed over not getting a double
The day when each and every Indian cricket fans were celebrating Virender Sehwag’s thundering 300, the Indian team management had to resolve one of the biggest disputes which can ever take place in a cheerful dressing room. Along with Sehwag on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan, there was one man who was also notching up one of his regular hundreds and that man was Sachin Tendulkar.
When India reached 675/5, Tendulkar was batting at 194. Stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid decided to have a go at the Pakistan batsmen in the twilight overs of the day and therefore rightly so, declared the innings while Sachin was 6 runs short of his double ton. The Little Master was very upset about the fact that he wasn’t given an opportunity to complete his double century.
“What Indian captains don’t tend to do is declare when Sachin Tendulkar is on 194 not out. The matter became a full-fledged sensation when Tendulkar told a press conference he was disappointed not to get his double century.” It was former Indian coach John Wright’s version.
Tendulkar throughout his career maintained that he always batted for the team and never for himself. But this incident raised a lot of question marks over Tendulkar’s desires.
“I was shocked as it did not make any sense. It was day 2 of the Test match and not day 4, as it had been in Sydney, a month earlier.” Sachin’s statement ignited a new controversy.