6 India-Pakistan cricket field conflicts to remember

Even Sachin Tendulkar exchanged a few words with Shoiab AkhtarThe high-octane cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan has given plenty of moments to savour not only for fans in the respective countries, but all around the cricketing globe. While many of these moments have been triggered by great contests between bat and ball, some of the others have been a result of verbal and at times, even physical altercations between players from both sides.Although things have turned a bit ugly on a number of occasions, these incidents have always been considered to be an integral part of this rivalry of legendary proportions. Let’s take a look at 6 conflicts on the cricket field during India-Pakistan matches:

#6 Javed Miandad - Kiran More

Javed Miandad imitates Kiran More’s antics behind the stumps

Possibly one of the funniest conflicts from the India-Pakistan rivalry came about during the 1992 World Cup game between the two teams. The confrontation was initiated when Indian wicket-keeper went up in an over-optimistic appeal for a catch down the leg side and it was turned down by the umpire.

Flustered by the appeal, Miandad had a few words to say to More, who also gave back some of it to the great Pakistani. This led to a brief war of words post which Javed started jumping up and down in an animated fashion, as if to imitate Kiran More’s actions behind the stumps. The legendary batsman had those who were watching in splits with his amusing behaviour.

The match was eventually won by India, but it went to be remembered more for the frenzied spat between Miandad and More.

#5 Ishant Sharma - Kamran Akmal

Ishant Sharma and Kamran Akmal go head-to-head in a T20 match

The 1^st T20I of a 2-match series played between India and Pakistan in the year 2012 at Bangalore was a tight encounter, as you generally expect Indo-Pak matches to be. India had put just 133 on the board, but the bowlers had managed to give their arch-rivals a hard time chasing the smallish total.

In the 18^th over of the Pakistani innings, Ishant Sharma had got the wicket of a well set Mohammed Hafeez and was fired up after an appeal against the other set batsman, Shoaib Malik had been turned down. New batsman Kamran Akmal poked at a Sharma delivery but ended up missing it completely as the pacer gave him a piece of his mind. The wicket-keeper batsman retaliated and this led to both players confronting each other mid-pitch and exchanging words.

Some of the other Indian players and the umpires barged in to control the situation, but it took a while for things to settle. In the very next over, Ishant’s bowling partner forced Akmal to hit one in the air as the towering pacer completed the catch and burst into a highly vocal celebration. Both players suffered fines for their misconduct, but they did manage to register another incident to remember in the India-Pakistan cricketing rivalry.

#4 Shahid Afridi - Gautam Gambhir

One of the ugliest confrontations on a cricket field took place between Afridi and Gambhir

The 2007 bilateral ODI series between India and Pakistan brought about one of the ugliest episodes in the Indo-Pak cricket rivalry. This was the Gautam Gambhir-Shahid Afridi altercation during the 3^rd ODI of the series.

It all began when Gambhir dispatched a delivery from the Pakistan leggie to the fence much to the dismay of the bowler, who went on to utter a few words to which the batsman responded. The southpaw scampered across for a single off the next ball, but in the process ended up colliding with Afridi, possibly intentionally. This led to a heated exchange between both the players at the non-striker’s end and prompted umpire Ian Gould to step in and put an end to it.

Both players were fined a huge portion of their match fee for their unsportsmanlike conduct in the middle of a cricket field during an international match.

#3 Gautam Gambhir - Kamran Akmal

Temperatures soared as Gambhir and Akmal almost came to blows

Indian southpaw Gautam Gambhir is no stranger to on-field spats and India-Pakistan matches over the years have seen and even angrier version of him than normal. In the India-Pakistan encounter during the 2010 Asia Cup, it was the turn of Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal to face the wrath of Gambhir.

It was the 34^th over of India’s chase and a top-spinner from Pakistan’s ace offie, which Gambhir missed, prompted Akmal to go up in a loud appeal even though it was clear that there was no bat involved. During the drinks break that followed, the Indian batsman approached the wicket-keeper aggressively and questioned him on the appeal. In return, Kamran Akmal too had a few things to say to Gautam Gambhir which further angered him.

The umpires intervened as things started to go out of hand but were finding it difficult to control the two. MS Dhoni, who was batting alongside Gambhir, was forced to get involved and he dragged the hot-headed southpaw away bringing an end to the spat.

#2 Harbhajan Singh - Shoaib Akhtar

Bhajji and Shoaib get at each other during an Asia Cup encounter

Encounters between India and Pakistan in major tournaments always seem to get the best out of players from both teams and also lead to some rising temperatures in the field. This is exactly what transpired during a group game of the 2010 Asia Cup. In what turned out to be the second of two spats among opposition players in the same match, two bowling stalwarts from either side, Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar, came face-to-face.

The match had gone down to the wire with India needing 36 from the last 4 overs. In the 47th over, new man Harbhajan pummeled a six off a Shoaib delivery and it was clear by the bowler's expression that it had not gone down too well with him. On the last ball of the 49th over, Akhtar bowled a bouncer and Indian offie was unable to make connection prompting the Pakistani to walk up to Bhajji and give him a mouthful. Singh retaliated and gave the pacer a piece of his mind as an altercation ensued causing the umpires to intervene as they separated the two.

At the end of it all, it was Harbhajan Singh who had the last laugh as he hammered a six off Shoaib’s mate Mohammad Amir in the penultimate ball of the match to seal victory for India even as he roared in the direction where the Pakistani speedster was standing.

#1 Aamer Sohail - Venkatesh Prasad

Aamer Sohail walks off after being removed by Venkatesh Prasad

Perhaps the most memorable confrontation of the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry came during the quarter-final of the 1996 Wills World Cup. Chasing India’s score of 284, which they put on the board after batting first, Pakistani openers Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar got their team to a dream start and were cruising along before Javagal Srinath got rid of the latter. Despite losing his partner, Sohail was undeterred as he continued to dominate the Indian bowling attack on course to a quickfire half-century.

All was going well for Sohail until he made the huge mistake of provoking India’s gentle giant Venkatesh Prasad. After crashing one of his deliveries to the point boundary, the Pakistani southpaw gestured at the lanky Indian pacer to fetch the ball back from the boundary. What followed was one of the most heartwarming moments for an Indian cricket fan as Prasad uprooted Sohail’s off stump with a ball angling in from round the wicket.