Cricket News
Times when cricketers autobiographies/biopics caused major controversy
These biopics were meant to depict the players lives
On July 24, the former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar unveiled the teaser of his biopic on his official Twitter account. The film is believed to be releasing on November 2023. Notably, he is probably the first cricketer to release his autobiography and to be part of a biopic on him. Talking about his autobiography, it created controversy as Akhtar wrote that Sachin Tendulkar used to fear him.
This statement in the book angered Sachin’s fans and the Indian fans in general. However, he is not the only one to create controversy through a book or a movie. There are several other players who created controversy with their books or movie. Some of them were banned from playing as they were under the contract of their cricket boards. In this listicle, we will discuss, five instances when cricketer’s biopic/autobiographies created controversies.
Five times when Autobiographies/Biopics created controversy
Emraan Hashmi (Image Credit : Twitter)
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Mohammad Azharuddin (Azhar)
The film was based on the life of the former India skipper who was banned by the World Cricket Governing Council due to his alleged involvement in match-fixing in the 1990s. In the film, veteran actor Emraan Hashmi played Azhar while several others played the roles of other players.
Bigg Boss 2014-15 winner Gautam Gulati played the role of none other than Ravi Shastri. In the film, the former India head coach was portrayed as a womaniser. This didn’t go down well with the 1983 World Cup winner and his family.
Vijay Sethupathi (Image Credit : Twitter)
2. Muttiah Muralitharan (800)
Not many people might be aware of this but Muttiah Muralitharan’s biopic was about to be released somewhere around the current time. Famous Tamil Actor Vijay Sethupathi was meant to portray the all-time highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs.
When the poster and the teaser was released in 2020, the Tamil nationalist sympathisers and several political parties opposed the idea. They felt that Murali betrayed his community in the island country during the 26-year-old civil war.
Herschelle Gibbs (Image Credit : Twitter)
3. Herschelle Gibbs (Autobiography)
The former South Africa player released his autobiography when he was still playing for his nation. In that book, he alleged that some players in the team smoked marijuana. Little did he know that his playing career would be finished.
Talking about the book, it is said to be sold out in just two days. After his international career ended, he played for a few franchises in the T20 Leagues.
John Wright’s Book (Image Credit : Twitter)
4. John Wright (John Wright’s Indian Summers)
A lot of Sourav Ganguly and Indian fans blamed Greg Chappell for ruining the career of the ‘Kolkata Prince’. He started his captaincy with John Wright who is still loved by the fans from 2000 to 2005. However, not many people know that he was the first to suggest that Ganguly must leave the captaincy.
The former New Zealand cricketer revealed in his biopic that Sourav wasn’t happy with the idea. This shocked the fans in India as a lot of players who worked with him have always spoken highly of him.
Jhulan Goswami, Ahana Kumra (Image Credit : Twitter)
5. Jhulan Goswami (Chakda Express)
Fans must be aware of the biopic of the legendary Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami. Anushka Sharma, who is also the wife of Virat Kohli, will play her role. Meanwhile, last year, an image created controversy. Actress Ahana Kumra took to Instagram to post a picture of her resembling Goswami. She stated that she wasn’t promoting the film, and was simply giving the pacer a tribute
However, fans noticed her dark complexion in the image. This didn’t go down well with the netizens and they started attacking the makers of the film, as well as Kumara.
