A gentleman's game, cricket is known for its occasional moments of hot chit-chat. Sometimes, these moments lead to more severe controversies. Occasionally, players lose control and engage in the ugliest fights in the history of cricket, which will be remembered for a lifetime, whether they like it or not.
1. Harbhajan Singh Vs. Sreesanth
In general, leagues like the IPL are considered the main reason for increasing bonding between players, but there are some moments in IPL where players lose their temper, leading to non-serious moments. A moment like this occurred during Kings 11 Punjab's match against Mumbai Indians. In this match, Punjab beat Mumbai, and after the game, when all the players were shaking hands, Sreesanth tried to play with Harbhajan Singh, but he lost his temper and allegedly slapped Sreesanth. Sreesanth also seemed to be crying after the match.
2. Jasprit Bumrah Vs. James Anderson
This one is a classic banter between India’s one of the best bowlers and England’s legendary bowler. When James was batting, Bumrah tended to shootout bouncers to hurt Anderson, and when Bumrah came to bat, English players sledded him. In return, he scored 34 runs, and eventually, India won an essential and historical match, but this rivalry continued for the entire series.
3. Yuvraj Singh Vs. Andrew Flintoff
If you want to see the adverse effects of sledding, then this is for you. In a match between England and India, Yuvi was batting, and he hit a boundary on a yorker by Flintoff. Flintoff lost his temper and said, “I am going to cut your throat off.” Then, Yuvi replied, “You see this bat in my hand? You know where I am going to hit you with this bat?” and the storm came after that. Yuvi hit six sixes in Broad’s over as the reply.
4. Virat Kohli Vs. Gautam Gambhir
There is another iconic banter from the IPL between the captains of the RCB and KKR franchises. In 2013, during a match between KKR and RCB, Virat was batting well and smashing everywhere. Later on, he got out and walked, disappointed by himself. While walking away, he saw Gambhir celebrating his wicket aggressively and saying something that Virat did not like much. Virat walked towards him, but they got separated by senior players and umpires. Later, after the match, both refused to share any kind of detail, but that rivalry seems to have continued to this date.
5. Shakib Al Hasan Vs. The Umpire
In a domestic match of DPL, Bangladesh’s veteran Shakib messed with the umpire. He was constantly upset by the umpire’s decision, and when the umpire decided to bring cover, the drizzling started with a ball remaining in an over. Shakib ran towards the umpire, waving his hand repeatedly, and he kicked stumps in frustration. Shakib claimed that umpires were biased towards him. It was a very irresponsible act from a well-known cricketer. ICC imposed a ban on him from cricket until the matter was sorted.
6. Mitchell Starc Vs. Kieron Pollard
Another iconic banter from IPL between two legends of their fields is here. In 2014, RCB vs. MI was going on. In the 17th over, Starc bowled a bouncer but Pollard missed it. Then, Starc tried to sled Pollard. On the next ball, Pollard stopped Starc midway through his run-up, frustrating Starc by throwing the ball at Pollard. To make the scene worse, Pollard threw the bat at Starc. Luckily, the bat did not reach Starc. Both players were penalized then.
7. Andrew Symonds Vs. Harbhajan Singh
This incident is also known as the monkey gate. This case happened in 2008 during the Sydney Test between India and Australia. This banter is between Indian turbanator Harbhajan Singh and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds. Andrew said that Bhajji sledded him by saying monkey," which was considered a racial comment to black society, but Bhajji denied any statement. Later, the BCCI supported Bhajji. This controversy even demanded a ban on culprits, as it spoiled the image of both cricketers.
8. Marlon Samuels Vs. Shane Warne
It is one of the worst and most heated moments in cricket history. This banter is from BBL 2013. The match was between Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars. Samuels tried to pull David Hussey’s T-shirt, which Warne did not like much, so he returned by pulling the T-shirt and saying something. Clint MacCay bowled one bouncer, to which Samuels defended, but then, Warne threw a ball towards Samuels, to which Samuels threw his bat wildly.
9. Shoaib Akhtar Vs. Harbhajan Singh
One more incident involving Bhajji is here. It includes Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhtar and our Indian turbanator Bhajji. This incident was about the Asia Cup 2010. India was in difficulty that night. Bhajji and Suresh Raina were on strike and seemed to snatch the match from Pakistan’s hand in favor of India. Therefore, Akhtar bowled bouncers intentionally and then tried to provoke them, but he could still not able to win that match for his country. India was on the winning side that night.
10. Gautam Gambhir Vs. Shane Watson
India’s left-hand batter is again here. This incident occurred on 31 October 2008. This test match was between India and Australia. Gambhir was in his best form in this series, as he hit centuries consecutively against the Aussies. Therefore, because of their nature, kangaroos started sledding him. Gambhir replied to them by elbowing a bowler to complete his run. Later, due to all controversies, authorities imposed a ban on Gautam Gambhir for the next test match due to his insensitive behavior.
