Ranking the 5 worst cricket controversies since 2000
Since the start of this millennium, cricket has certainly been through a roller-coaster ride. Through numerous ups and downs, the game has taken a different shape from the time it was played on covered wickets with a red ball and the possibility of using floodlights nowhere in the picture.
Since 2000, the game has been witness to a number of terrible controversies, that has shaken everyone's perception about the fairness of the sport from time-to-time.
Let's have a look at five incidents which had a massive impact, not just on the game but in the fraternity in general.
#5 When India lost trust in its players
18 years ago, Indian cricket faced perhaps it's worst nightmare in its history when four players were accused of match-fixing and introducing players to bookmakers.
Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Ajay Sharma, and Manoj Prabhakar were the Indian players in question.
Azharuddin was handed a life ban while the other three were handed five-year bans by the BCCI, in connection to their involvement in these matters.
It was a time when Indian cricket's credibility had gone for a toss and it won't be wrong to say that the Indian cricket fan too had lost faith in its players.
It took the likes of Sourav Ganguly and few other outstanding men to stand up and restructure the image of Indian cricket.
What happened when they took over to do that will have a separate page when the history of the game in India is ever written.