IPL: 5 disappointing altercations among Indian players

IPL has evolved colossally over the years. The level of the games has changed and teams have become more competitive over the years.

As such, the spectators get to see a lot of high-octane clashes in the tournament. With the kind of intensity involved in the matches, players are bound to lose their cool sometimes.

Unfortunately, Indian players have been seen engaging in verbal battles with their fellow countrymen in the field on multiple occasions.

Let us look at such instances of altercations in the field over the years:

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#5 Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth

Throughout his career, Harbhajan is known for his aggression in the field. He was famously involved in the monkey-gate saga in Australia.

In the inaugural season of IPL, Harbhajan was involved in another controversy. The off-spinner was playing for Mumbai Indians. MI lost the game against KXIP. Apparently, when the players were exchanging pleasantries after the match, Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth for mocking.

Sreesanth was seen crying and was consoled by his team-mates. Harbhajan was later banned for the whole IPL season. Subsequently, he was suspended for 5 ODI matches as well.

#4 Ambati Rayudu and Harshal Patel

Rayudu had a heated exchange with the RCB players after winning the match.

The altercation between Harshal Patel Ambati Rayudu happened in the 2012 edition of IPL. Harshal Patel was playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore while Rayudu was representing Mumbai Indians.

The match went down to the wire and MI clinched victory in the final over. However, Rayudu went to use obscene and abusive language towards Harshal Patel after the victory. Harshal Patel, too, charged towards the batsman and had to be stopped by the team-mates.

As a result, Rayudu was fined 100% of his match-fee while Harshal Patel was fined 25% of his match-fee.

#3 Amit Mishra and Munaf Patel

Mishra got the better of Munaf and scored 23 runs in the final over.

The match between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians in the 2011 edition of IPL was full of animated chats. In the last over of Deccan's innings, Amit Mishra was facing Munaf Patel.

Amit Mishra collected two boundaries of two balls. An enraged Munaf threw verbals at Mishra. Not the one to back down, Mishra retaliated. As the temperatures soared, the umpires helped calm the situation down.

Then after two balls, there was a collision which resulted in another round of verbal spat. Mishra, however, weighed down the incidents, calling them the heat of the hour.

#2 Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu

The MI duo had a heated exchange in the field.

Harbhajan and Rayudu are expressive cricketers. Both like to be aggressive on the field. Both of them represented Mumbai Indians for a long time.

The feud between the duo occurred in a match against Rising Pune Supergiants. Saurabh Tiwary had pulled a ball from Harbhajan. Rayudu put in a full-length dive at the boundary but couldn't prevent the ball from going to the boundary.

Harbhajan was not pleased with the effort and let out his frustration. Rayudu, on seeing that, charged towards him. Harbhajan tried to calm down the things but Rayudu snubbed the gesture and walked back. However, they later made peace after the match.

#1 Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli

The Kohli-Gambhir altercation didn't go down well with the fans.

This is among the worst altercations in IPL. Gambhir and Kohli are renowned cricketers and both of them are from Delhi.

The incident happened in a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2013. When Kohli was walking back after getting out to Balaji's delivery, Gambhir threw few verbals at him. Kohli also retaliated with his choice of words.

Rajat Bhatia, who also plays for Delhi with the duo, had to calm things down between them. Later, Gambhir and Kohli were reprimanded by match referee for breaching the code of conduct.