5 great on-field gestures by Indian cricketers

"Sportsmanship is when people help each other out even if they are competing against each other." - Diver Loudy Wiggins.

Competitive sports is intense, heated and personal, that is why, there are far more instances of unsportsmanlike behaviour like altercations, fines, suspensions, bans than there is a demonstration of generosity and genuine concern for opponents.

However, sportsmanship, in its very essence, is respect for self and others. It encompasses all that which is good in human nature. It is a concrete measure of the understanding and commitment to fair play, ethical behaviour and integrity.

Now, let us look at five instances, where Indian cricketers followed the "golden rule" of sportsmanship – treating others as you wish to be treated and went beyond the game to show compassion to their rivals.

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#5 When Gundappa Vishwanath reprieved Bob Taylor

In one of the earliest incidents that set the precedent of fair cricket, the then Indian captain Gundappa Vishwanath gave a new lease of life to England wicket-keeper Bob Taylor and earned many accolades from the cricketing community.

During the historic 'Jubilee Test' in Mumbai in 1980, Taylor was given caught behind by the umpire but Vishwanath thought that the batsman actually didn't nick the ball.

Therefore, the skipper went up to Taylor to enquire and when the batsman told him that he didn’t edge the ball, Vishwanath requested the umpire to reverse his decision.

The recall proved costly for India as England, who would have been 85/6 at that stage, went on to 229 before they lost the next wicket and eventually won the match by 10 wickets.

#4 When MS Dhoni turned boos to cheers in Nottingham

During the second Test of England and India's 2011 Npower Test series at Trent Bridge, the visiting skipper MS Dhoni withdrew his team's appeal to have Ian Bell run out for 137 and gave the world a fine example of the 'spirit of cricket'.

It was the last ball of the 66th over of England’s second innings and the last ball before tea on day three, when Eoin Morgan flicked Ishant Sharma to deep square leg and Praveen Kumar attempted to save a boundary for his team.

The Indian fielder was not sure if he had touched the boundary rope or not while the batting and fielding sides both were under an impression that the ball had gone for a four. By the time the throw came back in, Bell was out of his crease and was walking back to the pavilion for the tea break.

The Indian fielders dislodged the bails and appealed for a run-out. An obviously livid Bell insisted umpire Asad Rauf to dismiss the appeal, but, the third umpire declared the batsman run out.

However, during the break, Dhoni averted a huge controversy and asked Bell to resume batting. The Indian skipper's spirited gesture was heartily lauded by the crowd at Nottingham.

As far as the match is concerned, while chasing 478 to win, the visitors were bundled out for 158 and lost the match by 319 runs.

#3 When Tendulkar, Sehwag let Thirimanne off even after the warning

During a group encounter of the 2012 Commonwealth Bank Series between India and Sri Lanka at Brisbane, Sachin Tendulkar played a perfect ambassador of the game of cricket, when he asked stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag to withdraw a run-out appeal against Sri Lanka batsman Lahiru Thirimanne.

When on non-striker's end, Thirimanne repeatedly kept leaving his crease before the bowler released the ball. An irked Ravichandran Ashwin finally spotted it and dislodged the bail in the 39.3 over and appealed for a run-out.

The on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Billy Bowden appealed to the third umpire but Tendulkar rushed to Sehwag and asked him to withdraw the appeal.

Sehwag said, "Because if we appealed and the umpire gave him out, then somebody will criticise that, you know, that was not the spirit of the game".

"It's soft, but that's the way we are," he said.

Thirimanne (62) ended up being Sri Lanka's highest run-scorer of the match and India failed to chase the target of 290 and lost by 51 runs.

The Australian media had named this type of dismissals as 'Mankading' after former India batsman Vinoo Mankad, who was the first cricketer to execute it when in 1947-48, during India's tour to Australia, Mankad ran out Bill Brown in the second Test.

#2 When MS Dhoni turned physio for cramping Faf du Plessis

During the decider of the 2015 ODI series between India and South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, several players of the touring party suffered cramps due to excessive heat.

Still, it was only the second time in ODI history that three batsmen from a team scored a ton in the same match.

While Quinton de Kock (109) and AB de Villiers (119) were eventually dismissed, Faf du Plessis kept braving the heat, but, while attempting a slog sweep, he fell over on his backside and clutched his hamstring.

India's wicket-keeper and captain MS Dhoni instantly came to his Chennai Super Kings team-mate's rescue.

Du Plessis needed some help stretching and Dhoni was the first on the scene to volunteer. He held Du Plessis' legs in the air and flexed his feet to stretch the muscle while the South African medical staff arrived in the middle.

Eventually, Du Plessis was retired hurt on 133 but the visitors managed to post a mammoth 438/4 on the board. The hosts were bundled out for 224 as South Africa won the match by 214 runs and sealed the five-match series 3-2.

#1 When Virat Kohli eased Aiden Markram's pain

Virat Kohli is known for his animated, possibly over-the-top wicket celebrations, but, during the second Test of the recently concluded Test series between India and South Africa at Centurion, the visiting skipper's gesture eased the pain of a gutted Aiden Markram.

On the first day of the Test, South African opener Aiden Markram batted majestically for his 94 before a loose shot to Ravichandran Ashwin saw him caught behind and his innings came to an end.

But, before Markram could leave the field, Kohli approached the 23-year-old to admire his knock.

"He came across and said ‘well played’ and ‘unlucky to get out’," Markram said while addressing the media.

"It was a great touch from him. He is a massive competitor as everyone sees on the TV, but it’s great to see that he’s got good values that people might not always see", he added.

"It was nice, a great gesture and it did mean a lot", Markram concluded.

Eventually, South Africa won the match by 135 runs and the series by a margin of 2-1.