7 Hilarious Rumours We Heard About Cricketers

7 Hilarious Rumours We Heard About Cricketers; There is no denying to the fact that media played a key role in reaching the game to fans wherever they are in the world. They helped for the growth of cricket in the country and always made sure to take the news to the fans. However, much like any other, they have their cons, with fake news becoming an area of concern.

It is not only causing trouble to the game but also troubling the careers of a particular individual. Much to the same, there are quite a few surprising rumours, which were spread across the globe a decade ago regarding a few cricketing professionals.

Here, in this article, we brought you seven rumours in the game of cricket, which surprised the fans. They are such that the cricketers have to attend a press conference to thrash the reports. However, these seven rumours have always tickled the funnier bone of fans despite knowing that there isn’t any truth attached to it.

7 Hilarious Rumours We Heard About Cricketers:

7. Ricky Ponting – Spring in a bat:

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was a part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and two of them came under his leadership. He led his team to the 2003 title after winning the final against India which was a one-sided affair.

In 2007, he won against Sri Lanka to help his team lift the title for the second time under his captaincy. Interestingly, there was a rumour that Ponting batted with a spring bat during his unbeaten innings of 140 runs off 121 deliveries.

The Indian audience without even confirming the truth targetted Australian skipper but it was later confirmed as an April Fool’s prank which went completely wrong.

Read More – India’s 2011 World Cup Winning Team: What Players Are Up To Now?

6. Navjot Singh Sidhu – Stabbing An Umpire

Navjot has always been a calm and funny character off the field but on the field, when he is doing his job, only a few can match his seriousness in the middle. In 1996, when India and Pakistan locked horns, the sledging between Sidhu and Pakistan players heated up, which triggered the rumours of Sidhu stabbing an umpire.

Initially, it was Wasim Akram and Navjot Singh Sidhu, involved in a heated argument, as Pakistan tried to disturb the mindset of the batsman, who is on his way to win it for India. During the course, Aamir Sohail from gully region whispered something, which didn’t go well with Sidhu.

This heated argument was enough to blow off Sidhu’s lid. Raising his bat, he went marching towards Aamir Sohail in the gully region with a ‘You-are-gone-today’ kind of demeanour.

The Pakistani captain, Aamir Sohail visibly afraid of dire consequences, gestured Sidhu to calm down. Later, someone advertised the news saying that Sidhu stabbed umpire during the quarrel, which is completely false.

5. Shoaib Akhtar – Liposuction

The legendary player of Pakistan Shoaib Akhtar also became the victim of the fake news, which spread the whole world. A well-known newspaper reported that Akhtar had undergone the liposuction surgery to have extra fat removed from his body in Islamabad shortly after he returned from London after undergoing knee surgery.

Throughout his career, the Rawalpindi Express has been part of many rights and wrongs which made him one of the poster boys of Pakistan cricket. That attitude made the cricket fans believe the rumour but there wasn’t any truth attached to it. Akhtar, himself, declared the news.

“I don’t need liposuction. I’m not fat, I’m a fit guy. I can reduce my weight by running. These claims have shocked my world. But I am a strong man and what people say about me just motivates me more,” he clarified in an interview with Australian newspaper ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

4. Shane Warne – Nightmares

If you ask the bowlers who bowled to Sachin during his peak time, they will definitely name Tendulkar as the best batsman to feature in this game. Shane Warne is among them who have played against him and he believes Sachin is the greatest to watch.

Tendulkar was at his best in the 90s and had played some glorious knocks against Australia in a span of few months during the latter part the decade. Tendulkar had also dominated Australia’s legendary spinner, Warne, during that span. The Indian master had thoroughly schooled the leg-spinner on their tour to India.

After that, Shane Warne, who is known for his witty one-liners, in one of the interviews, told the press that he was having nightmares about Sachin’s batting. Then the media added its masala to the topic and headlined the piece saying that ”Sachin Tendulkar Scares Shane Warne Even in the dreams.”

However, recently the Australian legend affirmed that the “Master Blaster” doesn’t give him nightmares anymore. In fact, it was rather a tongue-in-cheek comment that he made somewhere during the late 90s.

“I can promise you Sachin is not my dreams and thoughts today. I can’t recall which year it was but he played terrific Innings and they won test matches (against Australia). I said probably, as a throwaway line tongue-in-cheek I said probably have nightmares about Sachin’s drive. I promise you I don’t think about Sachin in my sleep,” Shane Warne told Businessworld.

3. You dropped World Cup Mate – Steve Waugh to Herschelle Gibbs

South Africa had the chance of building the ‘legacy,’ one that would have lasted an entire generation. And all of it was dependent on one moment in history – a catch, one that Herschelle Gibbs shelled out.

Had he taken that catch, South Africa would have ended up being one of the top influencers of the game in the world cricket at the moment with a record of success in ICC events. There wouldn’t have been any world cup legacy for Ponting as well.

Well, getting back to the topic, after the completion of the drop, Steve Waugh said ‘That’s going to cost your team today, Hersch’, which was dubbed as ‘‘How does it feel to have just dropped the World Cup?” Still, a section of people feels that Steve Waugh has sledged Gibbs with the second-mentioned sentence, which isn’t true.

2. MS Dhoni drinks 5 Litres of Milk a day

Once in a generation player, MS Dhoni also went through these rumours, which aren’t true. When he was at his peak of form, Dhoni used to smash sixes for fun and always relied on his power more than the timing. During that time, a rumour spread out that drinking five litres of milk a day is the secret of his power, which he uses to tonk sixes.

However, later, the man himself revealed the actual truth in a fun meeting of Chennai Super Kings cricketers with fans. When someone tried to pull his leg with the rumour during the interaction, MS Dhoni revealed the actual truth.

“No, I don’t drink five litres of milk,” smiled Dhoni, when asked about the secret of his energy in 2012. “I used to drink one kg of milk per day because until I was 18, I didn’t have dal but used to have lots of rice and milk.”

1. AB de Villiers playing various sports:

Ever since AB de Villiers started dominating international cricket, rumours of him playing a number of sports while growing up started doing the rounds. Quite a substantial number of cricket fans believed that De Villiers was a multi-talented sportsman.

Rumours suggested that the former Proteas’ skipper held South African national records in swimming and athletics and was a tennis and badminton prodigy. Few rumours also suggested that De Villiers was a standout junior rugby and soccer player and had also played golf.

However, in his recently released autobiography, the South African has categorically busted all these rumours. The legendary batsman, in a popular chat show Breakfast with Champions, where host Gaurav Kapur asked him about the infamous rumour, De Villiers answered by calling it ‘serious nonsense ever’

De Villiers said: “Serious nonsense ever,” before adding: “Hockey, I’ve played one year, for 12 months at school. I’ve never played a live game of football in my entire life. Never played (Badminton). I’ve played once, one game of five minutes with Mark Boucher somewhere in Bangladesh, or somewhere.

De Villiers, however, revealed that he played rugby and golf while growing up, revealing: “Rugby I played for the first time at school. Top school in my country when it comes to Rugby and cricket. I’ve played golf, I was a scratch when I was 14, 15 years old.”