Five moments that defined Sreesanth

3. The aggressive bull – Aussie dismissals and Dhoni’s displeasure

Sreesanth and Andrew Symonds: Aussie battle

Aggression in cricket is good, but only if it is justified and within the rules of the game. Sreesanth’s antics often bordered on the side of extreme showman tactics – which have more often than not drawn the ire of players and officials alike.

When he dismissed a rampaging Matthew Hayden with an in-swinging yorker in the semi-finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup, the pacer slapped the pitch like a maniac as the opener began his walk back to the dug-out.

The two clashed again when the Aussie smashed three sixes off the fiery bowler during a match between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kings XI Punjab in the 2009 IPL. Sreesanth let loose a volley of abuse at the veteran player; Hayden replied that he was an over-rated bowler and loses his cool under pressure – a fact that has turned out to be true.

Sreesanth’s antics haven’t been restricted to cases where he was actually in the playing eleven. Andrew Symonds was at the receiving end of his immature behaviour when the Indian was carrying out his twelfth man duties during the fourth one-dayer of a six-match series at Chandigarh.

The two had almost come to blows during the second ODI in Kochi, where the Australian all-rounder was peeved at the unnecessary show of aggression by the bowler. Matters came to a head and would have turned ugly had MS Dhoni not intervened in Kochi, while Stuart Clark pulled the bowler away at Chandigarh.

Dhoni himself has publicly rebuked the mercurial pacer over his penchant for indulging in immature behaviour. Time and again, he has had to intervene in extreme situations, and he has made it clear that Sreesanth would have to tone down his bombastic tendencies.