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Top Cricket Controversies That Shook the World in 2025: The year 2025 was memorable for Indian Cricket as the women's team lifted the ODI World Cup, while the men’s team enjoyed a dream run by winning the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup. Fans had a lot of good memories, but away from the action, cricket also saw its fair share of controversies that kept making headlines throughout the year. From political tensions and technical failures to emotional on-field moments, tragic incidents, and doping cases, 2025 had it all. Here’s a look at the cricket controversies that created the biggest buzz.
Asia Cup 2025: India and Pakistan's no handshake policy
Arch rivals India and Pakistan faced each other thrice in the Asia Cup 2025, where skipper Suryakumar Yadav ignored Pakistan counterpart while shaking hands, and later Team India also refused to for a customary handshake after the clashes. The situation escalated after India won the final. The players refused to take the trophy from ACC chief, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, leading to the presentation ceremony being stopped midway. Naqvi left the venue with the trophy. The winners celebrated their win without medals and trophies. Pakistani players Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan were later fined by the ICC for what were termed as provocative celebrations.
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Champions Trophy 2025 controversies
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 was hosted by Pakistan, which faced a lot of logistical issues. Fans noticed that wrong national anthems were played during matches, flags were displayed incorrectly, and the Pakistan watermark was missing from the broadcast feed.
England vs India: Handshake Controversy at Manchester Test
The Manchester Test between England and India sparked debate on the final day. England captain Ben Stokes offered a handshake to settle for a draw, but India refused as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were nearing their centuries.
Some English players were unhappy with the decision and made comments on the field. However, both Jadeja and Sundar went on to score hundreds. India head coach Gautam Gambhir backed his players, saying England would have done the same in a similar situation. The incident reignited discussions around the “Spirit of Cricket.”
RCB Title Celebration Turns Tragic
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first-ever IPL title win in 2025 should have been a moment of joy. Instead, celebrations outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium ended in tragedy.
A massive crowd gathered to celebrate, but poor crowd management led to a stampede. Eleven people lost their lives, and many others were injured. The victory parade was called off, and authorities launched an investigation. What should have been a historic celebration turned into a heartbreaking incident.
Shukri Conrad’s Comment Draws Criticism
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad found himself in trouble during the Test series against India after saying he wanted to “make India grovel.” The remark reminded many of controversial comments made in the past and was widely criticised.
Former Indian cricketers Anil Kumble and Parthiv Patel spoke out against the statement. Conrad later admitted that his choice of words was wrong and said he did not intend to offend.
Ashes 2025
Technology became a major talking point during the Ashes series. The Snicko system failed on multiple occasions, leading to questionable decisions involving players like Alex Carey and Jamie Smith.
Both teams expressed frustration, and Australia’s Mitchell Starc even suggested that Snicko should be scrapped. England called for better and more reliable technology, such as Ultra Edge, to avoid similar issues in the future.
Doping and Match-Fixing Cases Surface
Doping also made unwanted headlines in 2025. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada returned to action after serving a short ban for testing positive for a recreational drug. Netherlands cricketer Vivian Kingma faced a similar three-month suspension.
At the domestic level in India, four players from Assam were suspended during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after allegations of match-fixing surfaced.
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