Whenever two teams lock horns in the game of cricket, players from both sides try their best to outperform the opponents with whatever means necessary. However, during a few crucial faceoffs, so much pressure got mounted that the cricketers found themselves entangled in arguments and resorted to sledging. There have been many instances where two players sledge each other, but in the heat of the moment, a few of those scenarios turned ugly. Either the umpires or other players had to intervene to calm things down. Afterall, cricket is known as Gentlemen’s Game.
Here we list some of those incidences that were filled with ‘fire and fury’, and made headlines when they happened during a cricket match:
Gautam Gambhir vs Shahid Afridi, Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, 2006-07
Gautam Gambhir’s fight with Shahid Afridi
During the 2006-07 India vs Pakistan bilateral series, Gambhir and Shahid Afridi had a heated conversation in one of the ODIs. The former Pakistani skipper was bowling to Gambhir, who ran into Afridi when he was picking up a run between the wickets. They exchanged few words in between the game when the on-field umpires intervened and calmed them down.
Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Johnson, Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2014
Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Johnson, 2014
Back in 2014, it was in the last test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni when collecting the ball off a forward push, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson fired a throw straight back at Virat Kohli, who was batting on 84*. A few heated words were exchanged between both of them and we all are aware of what Kohli does when he is furious. Following the incident, Kohli looked a little lost, even survived a dropped chance in the very next over of Johnson, before regaining his composure to go on and score a century—his 9th in Test cricket.
Kieron Pollard vs Mitchel Starc, Indian Premier League, 2014
Kieron Pollard throws bat at Mitchell Starc
In the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Caribbean cricket star Kieron Pollard and Aussie speedster Mitchel Starc had a furious moment in a Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) match. Starc continuously blocked Pollard’s way while he had been running between the wickets. To this action of Starc, Pollard got angry and hurled his bat towards him. Pollard immediately complained to the umpire before RCB skipper Virat Kohli stepped in to defuse the situation. Later, MI won the game by 19 runs.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH KIERON POLLARD’S BAT THROWING VIDEO
Andrew Flintoff vs Yuvraj Singh, T20 World Cup, 2007
Yuvraj Singh’s spat with Andrew Flintoff
How can one forget those six humongous sixes hit by Yuvraj Singh in an over to Stuard Broad in the inaugural edition of T20 World Cup? But the more interesting part is the reason which tempted Yuvi to make that evening memorable. An over before he hit those sixes, Yuvraj had an ugly spat with the then English skipper Andrew Flintoff. Days later after this incident, Yuvi revealed what actually happened that day in an interview.
“Those were ridiculous shots because I had hit him for two boundaries in that over. I said you. Then he said, excuse me. I said you heard what I said. And he said I will cut your throat off. I said you see this bat in my hand. You know where am I gonna hit you with this bat?” said Yuvraj.
And the rest is history!
Rohit Sharma vs Mustafizur Rahman, powered by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 2015
Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni argument with Mustafizur Rahman/ Photo: The Cricket Lounge
This incident has undoubtedly become the favourite of the Indian cricket fans. It was the debut match of Bangladeshi speedster Mustafizur Rahman when he had an argument with Rohit Sharma. The bowler came in Rohit’s way while he was running for a single. Rohit turned angry and pointed a finger towards Rahman and spoke something. In the later overs when the then Indian captain MS Dhoni came into bat, the debutant pacer did the same thing again but Dhoni pushed him hard to get him out the way to complete the run. As the two were involved in a physical contact during the match. Dhoni was fined 75% of his match fee, while Mustafizur was docked half of his fee.
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