4 famous cricket fights that led to bans

The game of cricket has had its share of fights and brawls since it started. From Javed Miandad trying to hit Dennis Lillee with his bat to the heated argument between Shahid Afridi and Gautam Gambhir, the game of cricket has seen it all. Sometimes, it is pure adrenaline, and other times it is tactical in nature to weaken the opposition mentally.

The ICC has taken a strict view and has devised rules and regulations to curb the on-field tussles and fights. They suspend or ban the players who indulge in acrimony on the field.

Here are four instances when players were banned for their confrontational behaviour.

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#4 Warner punches Root

David Warner got into a massive controversy during the 2013 Champions Trophy and on the eve of an Ashes series in England. Some of the Australian and England players were at a Birmingham bar and a lot of drinks were involved. Joe Root showed up wearing a funny wig below his face.

Warner thought it was disrespectful to the South African batsman Hashim Amla. He punched Root on his face and a fight broke out. Warner had to be dragged by his teammates to cut short the scuffle. He was removed from Australia's campaign for the rest of the Champions Trophy. The incident turned out to be a major shift in his life as he became a teetotaler since then.

#3 Inzamam takes on an Indian fan

Inzamam-ul-Haq was involved in a massive altercation with a spectator of Indian origin

In a Sahara Cup match between India and Pakistan in 1997, a spectator of Indian origin repeatedly taunted Inzamam-ul-Haq by calling him names like ‘aloo’ (potato) and ‘mota’ (fat) due to his burly frame and limited athletic ability. Inzamam was fielding at fine-leg and had enough of this insult.

He ran into the stands and reached the abusive spectator with a bat to smash him. The security then intervened and took matters into their own hands. However, Inzamam was banned for two ODIs. Meanwhile, India won the Sahara Cup in Toronto by a margin of 4-1.

#2 Harbhajan slaps Sreesanth

Sreesanth and Harbhajan were embroiled in a huge scuffle during an IPL game

In the inaugural season of the IPL, Sreesanth sledged Robin Uthappa and Shaun Pollock while bowling. The Mumbai Indian captain Harbhajan Singh got irritated and angry. After the match got over, he slapped Sreesanth who then burst into tears.

Harbhajan received a lot of flak after this incident and was banned from the rest of the tournament. The team manager Lalchand Rajput was also fined 50 percent of his match fee. The off-spinner subsequently apologized publicly. But this incident remained as a blot in his career.

#1 Afridi threatens a spectator

Shahid Afridi received a ban of four ODIs for his misdemeanour

In the first ODI between Pakistan and South Africa at Centurion in 2007, South Africa scored 392 and Pakistan were faltering in their run-chase. Things got bad when Shahid Afridi was dismissed cheaply.

While walking back to the dressing room, he heard a South African spectator asking ‘Boom Boom’ to go back to Pakistan. Afridi stopped, threw his bat at the man and almost hit his face. Eventually, Pakistan lost the match by 164 runs.

They won the next match in which Afridi scored a magnificent 77. However, after the third game of the series, the all-rounder was banned by match referee Chris Broad for four ODI matches.