This was a time when it was common for spectators to jump over the fence and enter the field, and this was usually the case when a batsman scored a century or a bowler took a crucial wicket to give his team a good chance to win.
And when these passionate spectators jumped into the field, usually the police or the ground staff would run after them and catch them and bring them out of the field.
1992 Test Match Overview:
In 1992, it was 6th and last test match in Karachi during India and Pakistan match when a 12 year old boy rushed into ground.
However, the misfortune of the 12-year-old boy in this match was that before any policeman could catch him and take him out of the field, he came under the control of the then captain of Pakistan team Imran Khan.
They strangled the boy and lifted him up. Imran Khan’s grip was so strong that it was difficult for the boy to free himself.
Some journalists covering the match said that if Imran Khan had kept the boy’s neck tied for a long time, his life could have been in danger.
Pictures of the incident were published in most national newspapers, and the reaction at the time was one of sympathy for the 12-year-old boy.
However, it does not stop at Imran Khan alone. Now let me tell you a story about the polite spectators of Lucknow.
Waqar Hassan and Lucknow’s ‘polite spectator’
In 1952, the Pakistani cricket team was playing its second Test against India in Lucknow.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Waqar Hassan was fielding on the boundary. Meanwhile, interesting phrases from an enclosure of spectators fell on hi
s ears.
“The attitude of the spectators in the Delhi Test was aggressive with us, but the spectators in Lucknow were polite. He also used polite words such as “Hazoor, Qibla, and Rukh e Zeba” (Urdu narrations) when shouting at the players.
He writes that I still remember a phrase that I heard from the spectators
(Urdu Narrations),
’اجی قبلہ، آپ اگر رخ زیبا اس طرف نہیں کریں گے تو ہم آپ کے ابا حضور کی شان میں گستاخی کر دیں گے۔‘
‘Aji Qibla, if you do not turn this way, we will insult the glory of your father.
Lucknow’s cricket fans were certainly polite and courteous but this polite manner is not seen everywhere but there are many instances in the history of cricket when the words and actions of the spectators infuriated the players and they got entangled with them.
Some of these incidents are also related to famous cricketers of Pakistan.
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Abdul Qadir Punched the Spectator
In 1987, the Pakistani cricket team competed in the third Test of the series against the West Indies at Bridgetown. The first Test was won by the Pakistani team while the second Test was drawn.
There was a time in the Bridgetown Test when the Pakistani team was in a position to win.
It looked like they would win the Test series for the first time on West Indies soil but Jeffrey Dujon and Winston Benjamin Won by two wickets.
The Pakistani team had a lot of objections to the decisions of the umpires, especially Abdul Qadir got angry when umpire David Archer rejected his two appeals in one over.
Abdul Qadir angrily took his cape from the umpire and went for fielding near the boundary.
Meanwhile, onlookers slammed him, especially 21-year-old Albert August, a car mechanic. His sarcastic remarks infuriated Abdul Qadir so much that he stabbed him and punched him.
The incident also diverted the attention of the Pakistani team and when the game resumed, Winston Benjamin won the match by hitting Abdul Qadir with two sixes and a four.
When Inzamam Got Furious On A Man Over Calling Him Potato
During the second ODI between Pakistan and India in Toronto in September 1997, while the Indian team was batting, a spectator Shiv Kumar, who also had a megaphone, started hurling insults at Inzamam-ul-Haq.
The day before, Shiv Kumar had done the same.
During the water break, everyone saw that Inzamam-ul-Haq angrily rushed to the spectators’ stand and the security staff brought him to the ground with great difficulty.
But in the meantime, Inzamam-ul-Haq took a bat from his teammate and ran to the stand again to hit the man.
Inzamam-ul-Haq later said how long he would tolerate the man’s sarcastic remarks because he was using inappropriate words not only about him but also about the country and religion.
Inzamam claimed that the man had earlier attacked her with his megaphone, at which he waved a bat in his defense.
Inzamam-ul-Haq was banned for two matches by ICC match referee Jackie Hendricks after the incident.
The police had also registered a case against him and he had to seek bail. Shiv Kumar was also taken into police custody.
When Shahid Afridi’s Move Costed Him Badly
In 2007, the Pakistani cricket team was playing its first ODI in Centurion against South Africa.
Shahid Afridi was walking out of the middle of the spectators towards the dressing room when a man said something to him on which Shahid Afridi waved his bat and took it to the man’s face.
Match referee Chris Broad initially took no action on the incident, but the issue was raised again after ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed watched the video, and Shahid Afridi was charged with Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Under the ban, playing four ODIs was banned.
Due to this ban, he could not play the first two matches of the World Cup in the West Indies after this series.