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Border Gavaskar Trophy Controversies That Will SHOCK You

The highly awaited Border Gavaskar Trophy is just around with corner, with Australia all set to tour India for the upcoming series! The test series will kickstart from 9th February onwards, with the first clash of this tour taking place at Nagpur. The visitors’ contingent has landed in the subcontinent as the Test series takes centre stage. Rohit Sharma’s Indian cricket team will be back in whites for the first time this year for the highly anticipated Test series. 

India’s rivalry with Australia is at its peak, with the Men in Blue emerging victorious on both occasions when they travelled Down Under in the recent past. The atmosphere during such high-intensity matches has often led to some heated face-offs. Let’s have a look at some of the most infamous events that occurred during the Border Gavaskar series.

Border Gavaskar Trophy Controversies

Harbhajan Singh Monkey Gate Saga 

The 2008 Test match between India and Australia in Sydney is one of the most talked about game in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Harbhajan Singh was alleged to have made a racist remark against Andrew Symonds after he was heard referring to the Aussie star as ‘monkey’ while he had actually said ‘teri ma ki’, a commonly used idiom in India.

Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden were seen holding a long discussion with Singh after Symonds came up and blamed the spinner with charges also placed against the Indian international. Harbhajan was banned following the charges, which led to India threatening to withdraw from the tour as an act of disappointment. The situation was later dealt with in Adelaide’s federal court, where the off-spinner was found ‘not guilty’ citing inconclusive evidence.

Virat Kohli’s obscene gesture 

One of the modern-day greats Kohli, is known for his aggressive attitude. The Indian cricketer has not shied away from wearing his heart on his sleeve and expressing his emotions on the pitch. During the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2012, Kohli was abused consistently by the crowd at Sydney.

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 After tolerating and having enough of it, the middle-order batter displayed frustration and ended up showing his middle finger to the crowd. His image was all over the newspapers, with the match referee (Ranjan Madugalle) also calling him in for questioning. Madugalle showed Kohli the image of him flicking, which later saw Kohli ask for forgiveness and not be banned.

Steve Smith brain fade

Smith has been very notorious for his antics on the pitch, with the star batter looking for different ways to get the results in his favour. One of the incidents took place in Bengaluru during the 2017 Border Gavaskar Trophy which is famously termed as ‘brain fade’.

Smith was given marching orders after being adjudged LBW against Umesh Yadav bowling in the second innings of the match. Rather than walking off, the Aussie star took his time and talked with the non-striker partner Peter Handscomb before looking at the dressing room, asking if he should review the decision by taking DRS.

It led to a lot of frustration amongst the Indians, with Kohli taking the matter straight to the umpires. The match officials agreed with Virat as Nigel Llong asked Smith to walk back to the hut. Later, the Aussie captain stated that it was a bit of a brain fade on his behalf and that he shouldn’t have done it.

Mohammed Siraj racial abuse

Sydney is one of the most controversial stadiums in Australia, with quite a few incidents taking place here. The Sydney cricket ground has seen its fair share of controversies, with the most recent incident taking place in 2021 edition of Border Gavaskar Trophy.

India’s fast bowler Mohammed Siraj faced racial abuse from the crowd when he was fielding near the boundary line, with Jasprit Bumrah also getting the same treatment. It led to the Indian team making an official complaint to the match referee, David Boon. While the umpires gave the visitors a chance to leave the match and walk away, Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane stood his ground, with the play resuming after those fans were expelled from the stadium.

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