ICC World Cup 2019: 5 Biggest Controversies Of The Tournament

Six weeks of intense cricket came to an end when England lifted their maiden trophy beating New Zealand by Super Over boundary count in the finals of the ICC World Cup 2019. The tournament lived up to the expectations of the fans as they witnessed the best of the business going up against each other for the coveted title. Meanwhile, there was no shortage of drama during the competition, and we will look at the five most significant controversies of the World Cup.

It all started with the insignia badge on the wicket-keeping gloves of MS Dhoni during India’s campaign opener against India, and since then, there has been many.

Here are the five biggest controversies of the ICC World Cup 2019:

Also read: MS Dhoni’s Parents Don’t Want Him To Play Anymore, Says His Childhood Coach

MS Dhoni Sporting Balidaan Badge

Former India, skipper M.S. Dhoni, once again professed his love for the security forces when he sported the regimental dagger insignia of the Indian Para Special Forces on his wicket-keeping gloves during their opening World Cup game against South Africa.

Soon after it came into ICC notice, they asked the veteran cricketer to remove the logo from his gloves. BCCI also urged the apex body to let Dhoni use the symbol, but ICC was strict on their position stating their rules which says no players or team official is allowed to wear any logo on the kit or equipment other than the ones permitted by the ICC.

It irked the fans and many ex-cricketers especially Gautam Gambhir who supported MS Dhoni to continue using the balidan badge for the rest of the World Cup games, but Dhoni didn’t sport it since then.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: No One Lost The Final At Lord’s, Says Kane Williamson

Chris Gayle using ‘The Boss’ logo in the bat

Chris Gayle, a self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’, used ‘The Boss’ logo on his bat during the ICC World Cup 2019 games. After ruling out MS Dhoni’s plea of wearing the dagger insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves, ICC also rejected Gayle request.

As per ICC ruling, no clothing or equipment can have any personal message during the competition. However, the swashbuckling opener continued to use the logo on his bat throughout the tournament, and the apex body didn’t reprimand Gayle for the same. It created a rift among the fans as they slammed ICC for being bias and not having any strict stand on their rules and regulations.

Also read: Nathan Lyon’s 4-Year Old Daughter Admitted To Hospital With Severe Flu

Mohammad Shahzad sent back home midway of the World Cup

Veteran Afghanistan wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad was ruled out of the ICC World Cup 2019 midway to the tournament. The competition was no shortage of drama; however, it reached the peak when the cricketer claimed that Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) ruled him out forcefully from the World Cup squad.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Shahzad sustained a knee injury during Afghanistan’s warm-up game against Pakistan. He had to retired hurt and didn’t take part in that game. But he featured in the opening two matches of the World Cup, and ACB stated that it aggravated his injury which ruled him out.

Shahzad claimed that he has regained fitness and was available for selection. He also brought serious allegations on ACB saying that they have pulled him out without even consulting. The wicket-keeper batsman was completely out of form in the two games he played scoring only seven runs.

Political Banners flying above the ground

There have many instances during the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2019 when aircrafts hovered over the ground during multiple games which had political banners along with it. It mainly contained messages about the injustice meted out to the citizens of India and Pakistan.

ICC has really struggled to tackle it and keep the game politics-free as it happened quite a few times. ICC issued a statement saying that they do not endorse any political message or has any relation with it.

“We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup,” ICC said in a statement.

However, the aircraft’s couldn’t distract the players as the game went on as per the schedule in all the occasions.

Umpiring Howler in the final

Ben Stokes inadvertently sent a throw from deep midwicket skimming to the third-man boundary with his bat, after diving for his crease in a bid to complete a second run. After consultation with his colleagues, Kumar Dharmasena signalled six runs for the incident, meaning that England were suddenly right back in the hunt in the World Cup final needing three more from two.

According to Law 19.8, about “Overthrow or wilful act of fielder”, it would appear that England’s second on-field run should not have counted, making it a total of five runs for the incident, not six. It created a lot of controversies and former umpire Simon Taufel slamming the umpires for their mistakes which cost New Zealand the game.

But, it didn’t change the outcome of the match as England benefitted from that and lifted their maiden World Cup title.