IND vs ENG | Spirit of cricket: Are India, England the worst-behaved teams in Test cricket?

As the heated India vs England Test series heads toward a gripping conclusion, debates around the "spirit of cricket" have reignited — especially with disciplinary actions stacking up.

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India, in particular, have attracted the most ICC demerit points so far in the series. But where do they and England actually stand among the best and worst-behaved teams in world cricket?


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According to Wisden, the answer may surprise you.



The flashpoints so far
The friction between India and England has been evident throughout the series. In the first Test, Rishabh Pant was slapped with a demerit point for dissent — throwing the ball to the ground in front of umpires after a rejected request for a change of ball.


At Lord’s, Mohammed Siraj was fined and handed a demerit point for a pointed send-off to Ben Duckett. At The Oval, Akash Deep celebrated Duckett’s dismissal with a mocking arm-around gesture that drew criticism from former players like Michael Atherton and Ravi Shastri for crossing the line in a non-contact sport.

While the ICC’s Code of Conduct does allow for passion, it sets clear boundaries — sanctioning players for excessive appealing, abusive language, and provocative send-offs. Offenses range from Level 1 to Level 4, with increasing penalties from fines to suspensions and bans.



Who are the real offenders?

Across the last two years — beginning from the 2023 World Test Championship final — Sri Lanka emerge as the worst-behaved team statistically. Their players have collected the most demerit points per match, including multiple Level 2 offenses. Wanindu Hasaranga alone racked up six demerit points across two incidents, one involving personal abuse of an umpire, earning him a two-Test suspension.

In contrast, England, Australia, and South Africa have only accumulated two demerit points each over this period — and England’s points-per-match rate is slightly lower than Australia’s. Despite recent tensions in the ongoing series, England statistically rank among the best-behaved teams.

India sit somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, having picked up several demerit points recently, particularly during high-stakes matches. While they haven’t neared Sri Lanka’s level of misconduct, they’ve crossed ICC's behavioural lines more often than most top-tier sides.

(Source: Wisden)


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