The cricket ground becomes even more captivating, entertaining, and eye-catching when there is a high-voltage and controversial fight between cricketers. There is always a curious wait among the audience to watch heated verbal battles among cricketers. The primary purpose of these fights is to provoke anger and distract either the batsman or the bowler. These fights could also result from natural masculine clashes on the cricket ground. These verbal brawls add spice, zest, and emotions to a simple cricket match. England and Indian cricket fans have witnessed the biggest fights in cricket history, which are unforgettable. So, here are the ten most ugly disputes between England and Indian cricketers.
1. Sam Curran Vs. Hardik Pandya
Sam Curran and Hardik Pandya are two of the most talented and versatile players in their respective teams. Both have earned praise for their all-rounder skills in cricket. But what if it is a battle between two equally great cricketers? Indeed, one cannot place two swords in one sheath. In an ODI series between England and India, the ground temperature heated up with a verbal battle between Pandya and Curran. Sam Curran came to bowl in the 46th over, which resulted in three sixes and a total of 21 runs coming out of that single over. Two sixes came from Hardik’s bat, which caused Sam Curran to say something angrily to Pandya. In reaction, Hardik threw some burning words onto Curran, and the umpires had to come to put a blanket on this blazing battle of words.
2. Virat Kohli Vs. Ben Stokes
Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes are among the most experienced cricketers in India’s and England’s teams, respectively. But what happened recently between the two in the fourth Test match in Narendra Modi Stadium might not sound very professional and sensible. The Test series often called the most boring cricket format, made the audience stand from their seats on the very first day of the 4th Test match when Kohli and English all-rounder Ben Stokes exchanged some argumentative conversation. Mohammed Siraj successfully took the wicket of Joe Root, which made Stokes say something to the young pacer. As a result, Kohli took charge of his team members and gave Stokes a tit-for-tat through verbal banter.
3. Jos Buttler Vs. Mohammad Siraj
The famous fight between Siraj and Jos Butler took place in the second match of the ODI series between India and England. The young pacer Siraj gave one of his best performances in this match and took prominent wickets such as those of Joe Root and Johny Bairstow. During his fast bowling, one ball hit the helmet of the captain of the England team, Butler. Consequently, Jos Butler gave Siraj a staring look, followed by an ugly verbal encounter between the two.
4. Virat Kohli Vs. Johny Bairstow
It was the 3rd day of the test match between India and England, which entertained the audience with one of the ugliest fights between Indian and English cricketers. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah attempted their best to trouble the opening batsman, Bairstow, followed by some distracting and demeaning words from Captain Kohli’s end. Kohli showed gestures of silencing Bairstow and said, ‘Shut up and bat only’ to the English batsman. But proving the proverb right that no matter how many mouths speak, the elephant strides on its path, Bairstow scored a phenomenon hundred that day.
5. James Anderson Vs. Virat Kohli
James Anderson, an aggressive bowler seen in various verbal brawls with Aussies, was captured engaging in verbal banter with Kohli. On the stadium of Lord’s, on the 4th day of the second Test, Anderson began sledging and distracting Kohli and then started walking on the pitch. Anderson's reaction was a result of the tough encounter he previously had in the match with the Indian pacer, Bumrah. Both exchanged a duel of words that got recorded on the stump mics.
6. Rishabh Pant Vs. Ben Stokes
During the match at Chennai Stadium, Rishabh Pant refused to return to the strike and bat when involved in a war of words with England’s team all-rounder Ben Stokes. It all transpired in the very 87th over of the match and caught everyone’s attention like an India and Pakistan cricketers’ fight. This is how M.A. Chidambaram Stadium witnessed one of the ugliest fights between an Indian and an England player, which had to be soon controlled by the intervention of the umpires.
7. R. Ashwin Vs. James Anderson
Another one of the most famous verbal fights between cricketers occurred in 2016 between R. Ashwin and James Anderson. Ashwin showered harsh words on Anderson along with an aggressive throw of balls. To the audience’s surprise, Captain Kohli, often known for his aggressive and thunderous nature on the field, came as a peacemaker to cool things down. Later revealed, Ashwin’s reaction resulted from Anderson’s comment on Kohli, who perceived it to be easy for Kohli to score great on the docile pitches of India.
8. R. Ashwin Vs. Eoin Morgan
In the 2021 season of the IPL, Eoin Morgan and R. Ashwin were involved in one of the worst fights in IPL history between the Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders. The ball was thrown in the 19th over when Ashwin and Pant were batting and passed after hitting the arm of Rishabh Pant. Ashwin began running to take runs, which got fiercely objected to by KKR captain Eoin Morgan, who thought it was against the ‘spirit of cricket.’ Wicketkeeper Dinesh Kartik acted as the peacemaker in the heated argument.
9. Virat Kohli Vs. Jos Butler
Jos Butler, often compared to Captain Cool M.S. Dhoni, was seen involved in a fight with Kohli in the T20 match. After Bhuvneshwar took the wicket of Butler, who was building a mountain of runs 52(34) in the 13th over, Kohli began to utter some anger-provoking words and gave an ugly send-off to Butler. Consequently, Bulter, before leaving the ground, turned to Kohli and said something in reaction. The umpire, Nitin Menon, had to intervene to put things to rest and continue the match. There is only one Captain Cool in cricket, and he has no one like him.
10. Jasprit Bumrah vs. Jos Butler
The joyful and relaxed pacer of the Indian cricket team, Bumrah, was captured in a battle of words with Butler in the Test match against England. Bumrah and Shami were batting and squeezing every run out of the England pacers in the 92nd over when suddenly, in the middle of the over of Mark Wood, an explosive argument took place. In this verbal quarrel, for which the reason remains unknown between Bumrah and Butler, the umpire took things in hand and prevented any further escalation.
