Daft wafts

Don Bradman: Melbourne, 1932-33
It happened in the controversial Bodyline series. Bradman didn't play the first Test, which England won using their controversial leg theory, raising speculation that the great man had suffered a nervous breakdown. He returned for the second Test, to the relief of the Australian public, who were sure their Don would deal with whatever was thrown at him. Bradman walked in at 67 for 2 to a dramatic standing ovation which delayed play for a few minutes. The unthinkable happened off the first ball. Anticipating a bouncer, Bradman walked across his stumps to play the hook. However, the ball didn't climb as much as he thought it would and he ended up chopping on to the stumps. It was his first first-ball duck. A cacophonous silence accompanied him as he trudged off. Bradman, though, hit a second innings century to help Australia win the game

Mark Ramprakash: Trent Bridge, 2001
England were batting after conceding a five-run lead to Australia. They were wobbling at 126 for 4, after Mike Atherton had been given out caught-behind much to his displeasure, and Alec Stewart had been cleaned up by Shane Warne. Then Ramprakash, who had painstakingly applied himself for an hour and a half, charged Warne, with only nine overs remaining in the day's play, missed the ball completely, and was be stumped easily. England collapsed for 162 and Australia romped home with seven wickets to spare. Ramprakash was heavily criticised for the shot and reacted thus: "Throughout my Test career I've been accused of not playing my shots... and I will be looking to take the attacking option when I can - even if that means going down the pitch to Shane Warne… It's almost as if in England we would rather a batsman gets out playing a forward-defensive shot than trying to take the attack to the opposition."

Steve Waugh: Chennai, 2000-01
It was 1-1 when the Australia v India caravan moved to Chennai for what turned out to be a thrilling climax, in 2001. Australia batted first and were cruising at 340 for 3 when Waugh choked. He tried to sweep Harbhajan Singh and missed. As the Indians appealed for an lbw, the ball bounded towards the stumps. Mr Ice Cool panicked and pushed it away with his hands. He was given out handled-the-ball and Australia collapsed to 391 all out. India went on to score 501 and eventually win the game and the series.

Nayan Mongia: Chennai, 1998-99
One of the great Tests between Pakistan and India was hurtling towards a tight finish, with India holding the advantage, when Mongia, who had played a fabulous supporting role to Sachin Tendulkar, had a rush of the blood. With his score on 52, he went for a mighty slog across the line to a length delivery from Wasim Akram and holed out to mid-off. Michael Holding drawled on air: "There was no need to play a shot like that". Mongia kicked the ground with his bat as he walked away. The then coach Anshuman Gaekwad pointed to the dismissal as the turning point. Mongia reflected on the loss later: "It hurt so much because we had come so close to victory from nowhere".

Misbah-ul-Haq: World Twenty20, 2007
Misbah had a played a nerveless innings under immense pressure to take Pakistan just five runs away from a win in the first World Twenty20. With 13 runs needed off the final over, bowled by Joginder Sharma, Misbah hit a six and brought the equation to six from four. Surely game over? But Misbah then went for the paddle-scoop. It was a slightly slower delivery and he only lapped it straight to Sreesanth at short fine-leg. Agony for Misbah, joy for India. Almost immediately Indians across the world were SMS-ing each other: "Miss-bah five runs"!

Kapil Dev: World Cup, 1987
It was the 1987 World Cup semi-final between India and England. India were 168 for 4 chasing 255 to win and Kapil Dev was on 30 in a 39-run stand with Mohammad Azharuddin. India needed 87 from 90, with Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar and Kiran More to come. Mike Gatting had just moved himself to deep midwicket for the bowling of Eddie Hemmings when Kapil swung straight to him. India collapsed to be all out for 219 and Kapil paid for the error with his captaincy.

He had done it before . In the second innings of the Delhi Test against England in 1984-85, he had just hit Pat Pocock for a six when he tried going for another six next ball, only to be caught at long-off by Allan Lamb. India went from 214 for 5 to be shot out for 235 and England polished off the required 125 runs. Kapil was dropped for the next Test, in Calcutta. It was the only time he ever missed a Test match in his career.

Kapil later talked about the shot and the subsequent ejection: "I have no regrets. It was stupid of them to have dropped me. Name me a player who was dropped for playing a bad shot. They wanted to make a point because we had lost the Test. In the end, to me it looked stupid thing because someone was sitting in an important chair".

Mike Gatting: World Cup, 1987
Perhaps, the most infamous shot in one-day cricket. It was the 1987 World Cup final and England, chasing 254, were coasting at 135 for 2 in 31 overs when Gatting played the most injudicious stroke of his life. Allan Border, the opposing captain, came on to bowl, and off his first ball, the England captain attempted to play a reverse sweep. The ball ricocheted off his shoulder and lobbed to the keeper. England went on to lose and the captain was castigated for years to come.

Younis Khan: Colombo, 2009
Twenty years after Gatting's faux pas another captain repeated the shot to equally disastrous results. Pakistan had come back from a disastrous 90 all out in the first innings to bowl Sri Lanka out for 240 in the second Test. In the second innings, Pakistan were cruising at 285 for 1 when the captain, Younis Khan, on 82, played a reverse sweep to the first ball of Tharanga Paranavitana's spell. The ball bounded off the edge to his shoulder and was caught by the keeper. Pakistan were bundled out for 320 and Sri Lanka rattled off the 171-run target in no time to clinch the series.

Kevin Pietersen: Edgbaston, 2008
England were setting a target against South Africa and the lead had reached only 136 with the in-form Pietersen batting alongside a woefully out-of-form and under-pressure Paul Collingwood. Pietersen had switch-hit Paul Harris a couple of times and thought he could get to his hundred with a six. He charged down the wicket but holed out instead. Collingwood fought hard to hit a hundred of his own, but Graeme Smith then scored an unbeaten hundred to take South Africa to a win. The Cricinfo ball-by-ball commentary described Pietersen's reaction after the dismissal thus: "He swears black and blue while trudging back to the pavilion. He is absolutely apoplectic with rage - and understandably so. He might just have thrown the game away for England." It turned out he had.

Damien Martyn: Sydney, 1993-94
Australia needed just 117 run to win against South Africa in the 1994 Test in Sydney. They were comfortably placed at 51 for 1 but Fanie de Villiers and Allan Donald combined to reduced them to 110 for 8. Martyn had just scored six runs but had batted for 106 minutes, and in the company of Craig McDermott had taken Australia close. However, he then hit a lofted shot against Allan Donald which didn't clear cover. Glenn McGrath, the next man in, fell immediately, and South Africa won by five runs. Martyn was crucified by the media for the shot and did not play Test cricket for the next six years. He said later: "At the time I thought it was the worst thing ever, but looking at it from this age, I didn't deserve to play… It took me two years to get over it - about a year too long to work it all out."

Sunil Gavaskar: Calcutta, 1983-84
India were fighting to stay in the 1983-84 Test series against West Indies by the time the fifth Test in Calcutta rolled around. India recovered from a wobbly 63 for 6 to score 241 in the first innings, courtesy vital contributions from Kapil Dev (69) and Syed Kirmani (49). In their reply West Indies escaped from 88 for 5 to reach 377. In the second innings, Gavaskar, who had gone for a duck in the first, started in whirlwind fashion ("despite India's grim situation, [he] batted in a fatally carefree fashion," Wisden wrote) hitting four fours and then going for a big shot against Michael Holding but only succeeding in edging it behind. India crumbled for 90 and West Indies clinched the series. The angry Calcutta crowd singled out Gavaskar for their ire, pelting the playing area with objects and fighting with the police before stoning the team bus.

In the next season when India played in Calcutta against England, Gavaskar was again targeted by the Eden Gardens crowd. India batted for over two days to accumulate 437 for 7 and the crowd blamed Gavaskar for India's performance, shouting "Gavaskar down! Gavaskar out!" When he later led his team on to the field, he was pelted with fruit. Gavaskar vowed he would never play at Eden Gardens again. Two years on, when the venue hosted a Test, Gavaskar made sure he didn't play as promised, retiring from the game after a record 106 consecutive appearances in Tests for India.