Who Are The Bad Boys In Cricket?
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Who are the bad boys in cricket?

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Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds chose to go fishing rather than attend a team meeting before a one-day series against Bangladesh in 2008. In another instance in 2005 in Cardiff, Symonds turned up for a match in a completely drunken state. Then there was the whole 'monkeygate' affair during India's tour of Australia in 2007-08. In between all this have been reports of a brawl with a fan, a tiff with a South African rugby player in a pub and the 'lump of shit' comment reserved for Kiwi batsmen Brendon McCullum. 2009 Twenty20 World Cup however was the proverbial 'last straw' for Andrew Symonds as he once again found himself on the wrong side with the Australian team management, which resulted in his Cricket Australia contract being torn to shreds.

Harbhajan Singh

The mongrel within the 'sardar' refuses to die down. Harbhajan very recently pushed a video journalist, and behold a controversy was right there in the making! From his days at the NCA, Harbhajan has been known as hot-head in the cricketing circles. The off spinner was not one to take things in his stride and gave back the opposition in full measure whenever the opportunity arose. Bhajji's spat with Symonds in the Sydney Test, threatened to bring the tour to a halt. IPL-2 saw Harbhajan stretching his 'bad boy' image to the max, when he slapped team-mate Sreesanth after a match. Bhajji's paid the price for breaching the disciplinary code and was banned for 11 matches in the IPL.

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar was mired in controversies and very often found himself in trouble with either his team-mates or the PCB. Accused of using nandrolone to enhance performance, Shoaib copped a two-year ban, but was later acquitted of the charges. He was said to have an uneasy relationship with Coach Bob Woolmer and Inzamam, and instances of arguing and slapping Woolmer were reported in the papers. A dressing room fight with Mohammed Asif, which resulted in latter being bruised on this left thigh, also came to light. A peeved PCB banned Akhtar for five years but later it was curbed to just 18 months. During his career Shoaib's commitment and attitude were constantly questioned.

Mohammed Asif

Mohammed Asif was alleged to have used nandrolone along with fellow pacer Shoaib Akhtar, an accusation of which they were acquitted later on. Asif's affinity with drug scandals continued as he was arrested at the Dubai airport for carrying illegal drugs. PCB handed the fast bowler a one-year ban, and this year's Champions Trophy saw Asif finally making a comeback to International cricket. A scuffle with Akhtar was also one of the controversial incidents in Asif's cricketing career till now.

Shane Warne

Shane Warne did drugs, women, bookies and as a fall out of his off-field antics, was constantly mired in controversies. Taking diuretic and being sent back from the 2003 World Cup or sending adult text messages to some barmaid in England, Warnie always kept himself in news. A star performer on the cricketing field Warne's family life was ripped apart when differences with his wife surfaced after his yet another text message mischief.

Herschelle Gibbs

An explosive player with bat, Gibbs was highly combustible off the field too. In 2001 he was fined for smoking marijuana during the Caribbean series. In 2007 Gibbs served a two-match ban for making racists comments on fans during a Test match against Pakistan. Gibbs along with Hansie Cronje was also accused in the match-fixing scandal.

Sreesanth

The Kerela pacer has been out of line on a quite a few occasions in the past. He was fined for deliberately shoulder barging Michael Vaughan. His over the top celebration on dismissing Matthew Hayden and Symonds have also put him in bad light in the cricketing fraternity. In the IPL-2 Sreesanth courted controversy again, when he was famously slapped by team-mate Harbhajan Singh.

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