Ben Foakes Tried To Stump Jasprit Bumrah During the First Test: “Spirit of Cricket” Controversy Sparked an Outrage

“Spirit of Cricket” controversy sparked an outrage on the social media platforms when Ben Foakes tried to stump Jasprit Bumrah during the first test series.

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: January 30, 2024

Summary: “Spirit of Cricket” controversy sparked an outrage on the social media platforms when Ben Foakes tried to stump Jasprit Bumrah during the first test series.

The first test took place in hyderabad, causing a massive outrage among the cricket fans on the social media platform because of the stumping attempt made by England wicket-keeper Ben Foakes against the Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah was delivering a ball from Tom Hartley, but couldn’t make a connection, and Ben Foakes collected the ball. Out of frustration Bumrah jumped in the air while inside the crease and Foakes tried to stump him. This whole act was disappointing for the cricket fans and they took out all their frustration on social media in the name of “Spirit of Cricket.”

This coming from England was a hypocritical behavior, because when in the Ashes 2023 series, Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey tried to stump Jonny Bairstow, there was a “Spirit of Cricket” outrage as well. At the time, England Captain Ben stokes said regarding the matter, “Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer is no.”

A viewer on X, formerly Twitter wrote, “Real spirit of the game stuff there from Foakes. No doubt McCullum would've run onto the field and ordered Bumrah back to the crease if he was out.” while another wrote, “For the record, Foakes shouldn't even be attempting to stump Bumrah like that. Absolute bullshit. England can't complain about Bairstow/Carey and then do that sort of thing.”

Furthermore, Indian fast bowler, Japrit Bumrah was also berated for the ‘inappropriate physical contact’ with Ollie Pope by the international cricket council on monday. This incident happened when Bumrah was bowling to Ollie pope, and when the batter was running between the wickets, Bumrah deliberately stepped into his way to stop him from taking runs.

Since Bumrah deliberately broke the ICC code and “admitted the office and accepted the sanction”, a demerit point has been added to his disciplinary record.

During a match a player cannot emerge in an “inappropriate physical contact” with another player, umpire or any other person. This could lead to a penalty of an official reprimand, 50% of players match fee and a one or two demerit point to the disciplinary record.