WTC Final: From Monkeygate to Shoulder Before Wicket – Seven biggest controversies of India vs Australia Test

Nowadays, the relationship between the two teams is a lot friendlier, which wasn’t the case back in the 2000s or earlier. Australia always enjoyed a fair share of sledging and India started to give some of them back to them, especially after the arrival of Sourav Ganguly at the helm.

Over the years, these two teams have provided some memorable cricketing moments in the longest format of the game, and there have been a fair share of controversies as well, which have sometimes ravaged the game and have taken unnecessary centre stage.

Here is a list of seven controversies between India and Australia Test series over the years-

1. Sunil Gavaskar calls Chetan Chauhan to walk off

In the 1980-81 series, Sunil Gavaskar was given LBW by umpire Rex Whitehead. Gavaskar believed he had hit the ball and was bemused with the decision. On the way back, he called upon his batting partner Chetan Chauhan and told him to walk off in protest.

Shahid Durrani, the team manager back them and stopped Chauhan from leaving the field.

2. Sachin Tendulkar’s SBW (Shoulder Before Wicket)

Well, we all know about the Leg Before Wicket, but in 1999-00 series, Sachin Tendulkar managed to dismiss himself in the most bizarre way you can imagine.

At the Adelaide Stadium, Sachin tried to duck a ball from Glenn McGrath. To Sachin’s dismay, the ball didn’t bounce and struck his left shoulder. The Aussies appealed and umpire Daryl Harper gabe him LBW, rather SBW (Shoulder Before Wicket).

Shoulder Before Wicket in the 1999 Adelaide Test – Sachin Tendulkar. pic.twitter.com/z2mNfZeySg

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 18, 2020

3. Rahul Dravid losing his cool

Rahul Dravid lost his cool in the 2000-01 series in Mumbai. In the bowling of Damien Flemming, he pulled one and Michael Slater got hold of the ball and claimed a catch.

TV Umpire ruled out the claim and subsequently Slater came to Dravid and words were exchanged between the pair. Dravid was not happy at all and told Slater a mouthful before the umpires intervened and prevented any further war of words.

4. The Missing Homework

It was one of the hilarious controversies which happened in the 2012-13 series. Australia were already losing 2-0 in the Test series and before the 3rd Test, Aussie coach Mickey Arthur tasked his team to come up with three points where they can improve individually and send that to him via mail, texts or a note.

Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson didn’t bother to do so and were banned from the 3rd Test, which was massively criticised by the Australian cricketing fraternity.

5. The drop catch and the false convincing

In the second Test of the 2007-08 series in Sydney, Sourav Ganguly was caught at second slip in the 2nd inning. Australians claimed the catch and Ricky Ponting pointed that it was a clean catch and signalled Ganguly to walk away.

Due to a verbal agreement prior to the series on respecting the opponents between two captains Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly walked away without appealing.

The replay showed the ball had dropped well ahead of the Aussie fielder and that created a massive uproar from India. But the match was later notoriously remembered for a different incident named ‘Monkeygate’.

6. The Monkeygate Controversy

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh was accused of racial slurs to late Australian batter Andrew Symonds, who claimed Harbhajan had called him Monkey during the 2nd Test in Sydney.

The Indian spinner was suspended for three matches but he claimed his innocence saying he only called ‘Maa Ki’, which sounds similar to Monkey but not a racial abuse and doesn’t warrant a suspension. Indians appealed against it but the off-spinner didn’t play the next match.

7. Racial slur to Mohammed Siraj

During the 2020-21 series, Mohammed Siraj was racially abused by a set of spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground on consecutive days.

Siraj complained on the second day to captain Ajinkya Rahane, who then got the attention of the umpires. The umpires offered Indians to leave but Rahane insisted on expelling those accused fans. India drew the match in Sydney and then won the 4th Test in Brisbane to win the series 2-1.