11 Cricketers Who Faced Imprisonment

The cricketing world, in the past decade or so, has seen itself embroiled in plenty of controversies. The controversies have witnessed cricketers of great international repute behind bars. From Ben Stokes on account of an assault to the trio of Pakistan team, many cricketers faced imprisonment due to various reasons. The accusations have continued to haunt them no matter their performances.

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Not only the overseas athletes, but the list also includes Indian cricketers who ended up on the wrong side of the bars. Prominent Indian cricketers who faced arrests were Vinod Kambli, Amit Mishra, S Sreesanth, and Navjot Singh Sidhu. 

The recent match-fixing accusation in the Karnataka Premier League has once again rocked the Indian cricket. The Crime Branch has already arrested a few cricketers and coach in relation to the charges and looks upbeat to crack down on the illegal betting.

We at Cricket Addictor will take a look at 11 cricketers who faced imprisonment on account of severe criminal charges:

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Nasir Jamshed:

Nasir Jamshed made his debut for Pakistan way back in 2008 and he did reasonably well. However, a slump in 2009 meant that he wasn’t considered as a long-term prospect until 2013. The southpaw struck two centuries in two ODIs against India in Pakistan’s tour of 2012 to record a historic series victory against them. Post that, inconsistencies sprung up again and controversies ended up ruling in what could’ve been a promising career.

On 7th February 2020, the National Crime Agency (NCA) sentenced Jamshed to 17 months of imprisonment for encouraging players to underperform in a PSL match between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi in February 2018 deliberately. He accepted an amount of GBP 30,000 to do the same. The 30-year old also coerced Sharjeel Khan to play dot balls off the first two overs for Islamabad United.

10. Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes resurrected his international career from the trail of dark pasts that left him fighting to remove all the misconceptions. The Kiwi-born all-rounder had to face imprisonment after an “off-duty” police officer identified him of performing an assault to protect two gay men. The 28-year old had to spend the night at custody to stand up to the interrogation of the Somerset police.

The victims of the ambush, including the firefighter, was left with a broken eye socket and the nightclub bouncer with blood pouring from his face. Having kept his defence unchanged throughout, Stokes was acquitted from all his charges on 14th August 2018 when the gay couple came forward in his defence. 

The couple thanked him by saying that “didn’t deserve being put through a trial”. Ben Stokes made a thundering comeback to international cricket, helping England win the World Cup and playing a chief role in making England draw the Ashes series at home.

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9. S Sreesanth

The spot-fixing row of IPL 2013 was the second similar incident in a decade after the trio of Pakistan cricket was involved in the same criminal offence. Along with two other players (Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila), Sreesanth got arrested in Mumbai on May 16th 2013. The trio spent approximately a month in prison.

The cops made the statement that the pace bowler confessed to spot-fixing; however, all the while, he maintained his innocence. The Kerela pacer received bail on June 10th 2013. Following a comprehensive investigation by the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit, Sreesanth was banned for life. The corruption charges against him were dropped, but the ban from the sport remained intact.

While the Kerala high court ordered BCCI to lift the ban on the speedster in August 2017, the BCCI challenged their decision. Following the same, Kerala high court restored the ban. The ombudsman of BCCI reopened his case in August 2019 and reduced his ban to seven years, making him eligible to play for India from September 2020.

8. Nishant Singh Shekhawat

The latest scandal in the world of spot-fixing emerged in the Karnataka Premier League when cricketer Nishant Singh Shekhawat got arrested for fixing games in the 2018 edition. The 29-year old helped bowling coach of Bengaluru blasters Vinu Prasad and a batsman named M Vishwanathan get in touch with a bookie in Chandigarh.

Batsman M Vishwanathan was understood to have accepted a sum of INR 5 Lakhs to bat slowly deliberately. Vishwanathan batted for 17 deliveries, scoring nine runs before getting dismissed in a match against Hubli Tigers. Along with the trio, Ali Afsak Thara, the owner of Belgavi Panthers and a drummer named Bhavesh Bafna were also arrested for their involvement in the same.

7. Ajit Chandila

Similar to Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila was an off-break bowler who was starting to climb the ladders of success until the hurricane hit him and finished his career. Before the spot-fixing scandal, the 35-year old picked up a hattrick for Rajasthan Royals against Pune Warriors in the 2012 season.

His three scalps accounted for elite batsmen including Sourav Ganguly, Jesse Ryder, and Robin Uthappa. Sadly, his ascendancy got halted when Rajasthan Royals suspended his contract when he confessed to spot-fixing. Things got worse when BCCI imposed a life ban on him.

6. Ankeet Chavan

Ankeet Chavan was one of the three members who got punished for participating in the spot-fixing fiasco along with Ajit Chandila and Sreesanth in IPL 2013. The off-spinner was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2011 and had featured in only a few games till 2013. Having made his first-class debut in 2008-09 season, he played a chief role in Mumbai’s title triumph in 2012-13 season.

The 34-year old, along with Sreesanth were banned for life in September 2013 for deliberately giving runs in exchange for hefty payments. He had been in prison for nearly a month before being granted bail. While the court cleared him of all the charges in July 2015, he was prohibited from playing domestic or international cricket.

5. Makhaya Ntini

Former South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini was one of the decorated pace bowlers of his era. He was in jail for a short duration, having arrested for allegedly raping a woman from East London in 1998. Due to this, he was forced out of the World Cup squad in 1999.

He managed to escape a six-year jail term, filing a successful appeal against his conviction. The Proteas paceman had a sensational career where he played 101 Tests, taking 390 wickets. Furthermore, he got rewarded with 266 wickets in 173 ODIs. He was also part of the Chennai Super Kings set up in the Indian Premier League.

4. Luke Pomersbach

Former Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach was infamously arrested in India during IPL 2012 on account of molestation and assault charges. As reported by the Indian police, the 35-year old had misbehaved with a woman and ambushed her fiance during an after-match party.

Pomersbach already had a history of drug problems and escaped a jail sentence after beating up a police officer in Australia who tried to arrest him for drunk driving. Coming to the lucrative league, he looked to redeem himself from all the bad decisions he had made throughout.

The couple met Pomersbach during the party, and they all went to the hotel for drinks after the party. It was in the hotel room that he molested the US woman and assaulted her fiance when he tried to push him out of the room.

3. Mohammad Amir

There have been instances of match-fixing, but none triumphs the involvement of a pace sensation Mohammad Amir in Pakistan’s tour of England. The left-arm bowler had taken the world cricket by storm and was touted as the next big thing. He was also said to be an apt successor to Wasim Akram because of the swing he used to generate at an alarming pace.

He had come under suspicion, courtesy of bowling some massive overstepping in the fourth Test at Lord’s in 2010. A sting operation performed by the reporters of a British newspaper revealed that bookie Mazhar Majeed predicted the durations at which Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif would be bowling no-balls.

Following his confession in corrupted activities, Amir was sentenced to imprisonment for six months and banished from all cricket for five years. As of 2019, Amir successfully reestablished his position in the national team. He also played an integral role in helping Pakistan clinch the Champions Trophy in 2017.

2. Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif wasn’t the fastest among the bowlers that Pakistan has produced. But what he lacked in pace, he made it up for his unrelenting skill and accuracy that ended up outfoxing the best batsmen. English batsmen Kevin Pietersen termed him as the best bowler he ever faced.

If getting tested positive for steroids on two occasions weren’t enough, the Punjab-born bowler also indulged himself into spot-fixing. While his teammates (Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir), were found guilty of deliberately under-performing in November 2011, he maintained his innocence.

Still, he received a prison sentence for a year and was bailed out in May 2012. Finally, the 36-year old came forward in August 2013 and confessed to his crimes. He expressed his will to return to competitive cricket but hasn’t been picked to play for Pakistan yet.

1. Salman Butt

Salman Butt succeeded Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s Test captain and had a positive start to his captaincy, having scored Test wins against Australia and England. He received appreciations for his leadership qualities on and off the field.

It all came raining down when he lead down the nation when, as a captain, he asked his teammates to indulge in misconduct. Along with getting a prison sentence of 30 months, he was slapped with a ban from ICC for ten years. The prohibition later got reduced to five years.

Along with experiencing extensive criticism for his own actions, experts also condemned the 35-year old for dragging a teen pace bowler with him. Salman Butt has marked his return to domestic cricket; however, due to his age, he is unlikely to feature in the national team.