February 1, 1981. MCG. New Zealand were 229 for 8, with one ball to go. Six required to draw even with the Australian total of 235. Even the mother of Brian McKechnie, the No 10 who had just walked out to bat, would have expected him to clear the boundary off the final Trevor Chappell delivery.

But elder brother, skipper, Greg Chappell was taking no chances. From mid-on, he approached Trevor and asked, "How's your underarm bowling?"

What followed has left a black mark on the history of cricket. Even the ones closest to Greg Chappell did not like it.

As he walked back from the stumps, Rod Marsh shouted, "Don't do it." On the television microphone, Ian Chappell blared, "No, Greg no. You can't do that."

McKechnie blocked the underarm delivery and threw his bat away in disgust.

The following day, Keith Miller observed: “One Day cricket died yesterday, Greg Chappell should be buried with it.”

The eldest Chappell brother was scathing: “Fair dinkum, Greg, how much pride do you sacrifice to win $35,000? Because, brother, you sacrificed a lot in front of a huge TV audience and 52,825 people.”

Text: Arunabha Sengupta

Illustration: Maha