Team India is a nation full of cricket fanatics. They are all passionate about the game, and when it comes to expressing emotions, there is no filter. Due to IPL, we have seen Indian fans adore some overseas cricketers like AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle. At the same time, a few players have rubbed the Indians in a wrong way. Be it due to their exceptional performances against India or some of their attitude-related antics, these players have not hit the right chord with Indian fans. On that note, here is a look at the five least-loved overseas cricketers in India.
1) Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)
Mushfiqur Rahim is the latest addition to this list of least-loved overseas cricketers in India. As a youngster, the seeds were sown when Rahim top-scored to defeat India in the 2007 World Cup, which the nation had to exit from the group stages.
Then, after India defeated Bangladesh by one run in the 2016 T20 World Cup and later lost to West Indies, Rahim tweeted that he was happy to see India losing. Although the Bangladeshi later deleted the tweet, this led to the ire of Indian fans, who are still not accepting him as a competitor.
2) Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Ricky Ponting is an all-time great who usually saved his best for Team India. His sensational knock that made India lose the final of the 2003 World Cup is still a nightmare for the Indians.
In 1999, Ponting hurled abuses at Javagal Srinath, a cricketer who is known for his soft nature. In the 2008 series, Ponting’s poor sportsmanship came to the fore. He stood ground despite edging a ball and also wrongly appealed for catches, which led to his unpopularity amongst Indians.
3) Andrew Symonds (Australia)
Andrew Symonds was one of the most controversial cricketers of his time. In the 2007/08 series against India, Symonds alleged that Harbhajan Singh had called him a ‘Monkey’. There were plenty of repercussions due to this accusation. However, Indian fans opined that Symonds misheard Bhajji’s word, which was actually local slang.
Apart from Monkeygate, Symonds was a heavy sledger which did not go well with Indians. Also, he always performer well against Team India. In fact, with over 1000 ODI runs and 400 Test runs against India, Symonds has not done better than any other nation than against the Men in Blue. Hence, he is one of the least-loved overseas cricketers in India.
4) Javed Miandad (Pakistan)
Including a last-ball six to seal the Australasia Cup in 1986, Javed Miandad was a beast when it came to playing India. He scored more runs against the arch-rivals than any other nation. While this was one reason for Indians to show less love to him, Miandad’s over-aggression did not help either.
Asking Dilip Doshi for his room number so that he could hit the ball there, mimicking Kiran More’s appeal in the 1992 World Cup or even telling that Sachin Tendulkar would be forgotten after retirement, Javed Miandad never made an effort to receive India’s love.
5) Andrew Flintoff (England)
Andrew Flintoff was an exceptional all-rounder, but his attitude somehow did not sit well with the Indian fans. The Englishman once took off his shirt after winning an ODI at the Wankhede Stadium. This was the trigger that made Sourav Ganguly repeat the act after winning the Natwest Trophy in 2002.
Later, in the first World T20, Flintoff sledged Yuvraj Singh and told him that he would ‘cut his throat off’. The Indian fans hated Flintoff for the comment. Yuvi, though, struck six sixes in an over in that game and answered Flintoff in the best possible way.
