While teams get onto the field with the intention of winning, at the end of the day, however, it is just a game. What matters is whether the game was played in goodspirit - if the essence was kept intact.
Cricket is known as the gentlemen’s game, and there is a reason for that. Even though there might be some incidents that would make one challenge the description, cricket has seen some of the kindest gestures between opposition players.
Be it consoling the opponents over a loss or celebrating with them in victory, cricket has produced some incredibly wonderful acts of sportsmanship—and here are five of such acts in T20Is that won’t fade away from our memories, just like the Axe Signature range of perfumes.
Virat Kohli’s gift to Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Amir is a controversial character. His return to the international scene was seen in the kind light by many, with Mohammad Hafeez even threatening to quit the team if he was called up. However, Virat Kohli welcomed him better than anyone else.
As Pakistan and India were attending a practice session before their Asia Cup encounter, Virat Kohli approached Mohammad Amir and handed him his bat—an act which made the headlines for all the right reasons.
"He is a very skillful bowler and I wish him all the best. He has worked hard to come this far and it takes a lot of courage," Kohli said.
India and Pakistan are and will always be eternal rivals, but rivals can also be friends as shown by Virat Kohli.
Shahid Afridi’s humility
One of the biggest embarrassment an egocentric person faces is when he/she has to touch his/her own shows, let alone the shoes of someone else. Shoes are seen as somewhat of a low-level thing, and hence, the use of shoes to mortify people is a common act.
However, Shahid Afridi showed that he had no qualms with touching someone else’s footwear. As Shakib al-Hasan turned back to save himself from being run-out, hisboots came off from his feet. The Pakistan T20I captain then went ahead and lifted the boot and gave it to Shakib al-Hasan.
This gargantuan act of humility was highly appreciated by the Bangladeshi fans as it gave them a good lesson on humility, something most of them highly lack.
Faulkner and Kohli’s moment of love
If you search the term ‘Kohli Faulkner’ on Youtube, all you would see if videos of the sledging between these two, with the Indian coming on top with his brilliant, “I havesmashed you enough in my life…no point [in arguing], go bowl.”
However, there is another video with little views. In that video, you will see Virat Kohli running as fast as he can, in an attempt to steal a second run, after hitting Faulkner’s ball aerially on the off-side. But, as he slid to ground his bat to complete a run, he slipped and fell.
James Faulkner then, in a kind act of sportsmanship, helped him get up—an effort which was appreciated by Kohli and gained Faulkner some brownie points among the Indian fans.
Yuvraj Singh’s solace
This is a man who beat cancer; that alone makes him a warrior. On top of that, he makes a comeback to the team and leaves a strong presence on the field.
Against Australia, we once again saw his never-give-up attitude. As he jumped up to play a flick shot on the leg side, he landed awkwardly and twisted his ankle in a wicked way. After that, he was struggling to even walk.
As Yuvraj Singh was writhing in pain, David Warner and Shane Watson approached him and tried to comfort him with some mild stretching massages.
The scene once again depicted that India and Australia players might have shared some ferocious moments of verbal abuse, but that doesn’t stop them from showing humanity.
Chris Gayle the party man
West Indies had already qualified for the semi-final and in a ruthless fashion no less. They tormented South Africa, England and Sri Lanka on the way while stamping themselves as one of the favourites to win the tournament.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, have been teasing the other teams for a while now. They played exceptionally well, and also gave hope to their fans, against South Africa, Sri Lanka and England and might as well have won those games had they had experience.
And they finally got their win against West Indies.
One would have expected West Indies players to be upset about their loss to the minnows, but they were far from that as Chris Gayle actually danced and celebrated with the Afghans for their wonderful achievement. Pictures of the flamboyant lefthander taking a selfie with the Afghanistan team spread like wildfire on social media.
Time to learn something from the Calypsos!
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