Cricketers Who Were Caught Smoking (Shocking Moments)

Remember when Shane Warne was seen smoking before stepping onto the playing field? Or when Ian Botham’s cannabis scandal? Every news outlet picked it up, and it was everywhere. As a result, these cricketers faced serious career drawbacks, including fines and suspensions.

Cricketers are expected to maintain peak fitness, so images or videos of them smoking or vaping can quickly attract attention. Over the years, several high-profile players, including Shane Warne, Ian Botham, Kusal Mendis and Riyan Parag, have faced public criticism or official action over smoking, vaping or drug-related incidents.

Cricketers Caught Smoking, Vaping or Involved in Smoking-Related Controversies 

Let’s check out some of the major incidents that took the internet by storm with cricketers who were caught smoking. 

While it is essential for professional cricketers to have great fitness levels, many have been subjected to criticism or penalties due to smoking or vaping inside and outside the playing arena.

Cricket professional boards have stringent codes of conduct that do not allow smoking and vaping within the teams’ playing areas in order to uphold the integrity of the game. Although small infractions may result in social media reactions or fines, major transgressions

1. Shane Warne (Australia)

Michael Clarke spoke about this on the Uncensored Podcast, wherein he mentioned that Warne used to smoke a cigarette while walking to the ground and throw it away just before he crossed the boundary rope.

This is how Clarke put it across: “Basically, Warnie would have a smoke as he was walking onto the ground. He would try to hide it somewhere. And when he finished his smoke and put it out, he knew that it was game time.” 

In 1999, Shane Warne signed a $200,000 Australian dollar contract with Nicorette in which he promised not to smoke for four months. Warne held out until he had a late-night outing in the West Indies and smoked one cigarette. “I had one cigarette in the West Indies,” he announced publicly. The contract was violated. 

Shane Warne hung up his boots with a record of 708 Test wickets, making him second only to Anil Kumble on the list. He delivered the Ball of the Century during the 1993 Ashes and took 23 wickets during Australia’s 5-0 Ashes win in 2006-07.

2. Ian Botham (England)

Ian Botham is recognized as being the first cricketer from England to have been officially banned due to drug abuse.

The England Test & County Cricket Board imposed a 63-day ban on him, arguing that “he has set a bad example for young cricket followers.”

During an India versus England match at Lord’s, a streaker came running onto the field holding a “Bring Back Botham” banner. 

This incident gained massive attention, showing Botham still had a lot of support from his fans. 

Returning to cricket in August 1986, Botham made a remarkable contribution when he dismissed his first batsman and matched the world record for 355 Test wickets held by Denis Lillee. He remained active for England until 1992, during which time he maintained the reputation created through his legendary act in the 1981 Ashes series.

3. Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella & Danushka Gunathilaka (Sri Lanka)

Violation of the Sri Lankan bio-bubble is perhaps one of the most severely punished smoking and behavior scandals in the world of cricket. 

When the Sri Lankan team toured England in 2021, cricketers Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, and Danushka Gunathilaka were caught smoking in public places in Durham in violation of strict health and safety protocols

This happened on the night of June 27, 2021, when videos emerged of Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella smoking on the streets of Durham. 

The players were also outside Sri Lanka’s designated COVID-19 bio-secure environment, violating team protocols during the tour. Gunathilaka was later seen with them in the footage.

In the second video, Danushka Gunathilaka joined the two. All three were suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket the following day and returned home ahead of the start of the ODI series.

After being investigated thoroughly by a former Supreme Court judge of Sri Lanka, all three were suspended for one year from playing international cricket and each fined 10 million Sri Lankan rupees (about USD 50,000). Furthermore, all three players were suspended from participating in any domestic cricket for six months.

4. Aaron Finch (Australia)

In a recent IPL 2020 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals held in Dubai, the TV cameras captured Australian batsman Aaron Finch, who was opening the batting, taking an e-cigarette in the RCB team’s dressing room during the last over of the game. This video clip became extremely popular on social media platforms.

The video instantly went viral on social media as people started debating whether vapes were allowed in the changing rooms of IPL teams and their team zones. Back then, there was no rule to prohibit vaping, and hence, Finch did not get any official punishment for the act.

It was the same clip that surfaced again in April 2026 as Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag was caught vaping in the IPL dressing room. In contrast to Aaron Finch, who avoided any punishment for the same incident in 2020 before he retired from all international cricket in 2023, Parag got fined 25% of his match fees along with one demerit point.

5. Riyan Parag (India) IPL 2026

Rajasthan Royals captain, Riyan Parag, was caught on camera vaping in the changing room of the team during a game of IPL 2026 between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at Mullanpur on 28 April 2026.

The video clip of the act was taken midway through the broadcast as Parag was seen smoking an e-cigarette while sitting beside Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel during the RR’s run chase.

As per the report, IPL made an announcement through which they informed the fans that Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Riyan Parag had confessed to having committed a Level 1 offense in accordance with Rule 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct regarding the acts that might affect the reputation of the game.

He was fined 25% of the match fee (roughly ₹25 lakhs) and given a demerit point by Match Referee Amit Sharma, according to PTI sources. Parag confessed to the offense and took the penalty.

This incident had more significance considering the ban on the use of e-cigarettes in India since 2019 under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act. Vaping regulations vary considerably from one country to another. While electronic cigarettes are prohibited in India, the UK permits the sale of regulated vaping products to adults, subject to specific rules around product safety, age verification, and retail.

This makes it particularly important for consumers in countries where vaping is permitted to choose a genuine and reputable retailer rather than purchasing questionable or potentially counterfeit products. Pirate Vapes is a UK-based retailer that offers vaping products to customers, making it an example of the type of established seller consumers may encounter in the UK vaping market.

However, the availability of these products does not mean that vaping is permitted everywhere, and consumers should always check the laws and regulations that apply in their own country before purchasing or using vaping products.

6. Chris Gayle (West Indies)

There have been multiple pictures taken of Chris Gayle smoking during his career as well as even after his retirement. However, none of the incidents attracted any kind of punishment because they happened in informal settings where he was not playing cricket.

Gayle scored more than 10,000 runs in Test matches and is the all-time run scorer in T20 cricket matches. 

7. Ravindra Jadeja (India)

Ravindra Jadeja was not filmed by the paparazzi. It was Jadeja himself who put up the video on Instagram. The video that shows Ravindra Jadeja smoking hookah was met with quick criticism by his fans, who felt that this is not right on the part of an Indian representative.

Although no action was taken against them by the cricket administrators, the video sparked a debate regarding the responsibilities of the cricketers in India. 

It brought to light issues that are bigger than just the personal life of an athlete on social media, considering their enormous impact on society.

8. Phil Tufnell (England)

Phil Tufnell was well known for smoking cigarettes throughout his playing career, a habit frequently confirmed by both Tufnell and his teammates.

Former England captain Michael Atherton recounted managing Tufnell’s heavy smoking habit in his official autobiography Opening Up: My Autobiography, writing, “I spent half my time as captain telling Phil Tufnell to put out his cigarette before going out to field.” 

He had been suspected of smoking marijuana in the bathroom of a restaurant in Christchurch, New Zealand, where the England team was on their tour of New Zealand.

During England’s 1997 tour of New Zealand, staff at Bardelli’s restaurant in Christchurch accused Phil Tufnell of using cannabis in the venue’s restroom, a claim Tufnell strongly denied and which England team manager John Barclay dismissed following an internal review, declaring team management was “completely satisfied” of the spinner’s innocence, as reported in contemporary coverage on ESPNcricinfo. 

The allegations were later viewed as a publicity ploy by the establishment, which capitalized on the media storm by displaying promotional posters around town reading, “Tufnell reckons that Bardelli’s is the best joint in town”. 

Phil Tufnell, who is a spin bowler from Middlesex and England, was fined a sum of £1,000 in addition to £250 costs by the ECB disciplinary committee for failing to provide his urine for the drug test conducted randomly. 

This committee imposed on him a suspended ban that was valid until April 1999 on condition that he passed any future test. He was able to be selected internationally under these conditions.

Phil Tufnell participated in winning the show, ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ in 2003 and became a popular cricket commentator. All controversies were forgotten, but the 11/93 against Australia in the 1997 Ashes at The Oval were not. 

Conclusion: Stumps, Sparks, and Controversy Always Happen When Cricket Meets Cigarettes 

Whether a cricketer wants to or not, he will have to be an icon because millions of fans look up to him. 

So when any cricketer is found smoking right after a game or inside the bio-bubble, the reaction from all the fans would not take long at all.

This list covers examples of cricketers who got caught smoking in more than seventy years. Some of them got banned from playing while others received fines. 

But it should be noted that Shane Warne, having smoked throughout his whole career, still took 708 Test wickets. 

Also, Ian Botham, being banned from playing due to taking cannabis, broke a world record for wickets taken.