Despite carrying the tag of being a gentleman’s game cricket has seen its fair share of controversies in its history. Moreover, when two teams are battling it out in competitive sports, tempers are bound to rise and circumstances and testosterone together can cause an angry skirmish. Though cricket in the olden days involved very few arguments and disagreements, the modern game has had its fair share of ill-tempered fights.
Also read: Top 5 controversial cricket umpires of all time
Over the years we have witnessed some intense fights between cricketers from either team and sometimes it has reached a level when the officials had to come and intervene to bring the situation under normalcy. Though the intensity in the game and aggression have increased but the term sledging has been used since time immemorial. The Australians were popular in that art but in the current generation, most of the teams with their young brigade are not scared to take on their oppositions in verbal duels.
Here we bring you 10 biggest on-field brawls of all time
#10 Javed Miandad vs Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad were terrific players for their respective countries during the 1980s but both had that tendency to indulge in controversies and attract newspaper headlines. Australia and Pakistan met each other in 1981-82 down under and the two were involved in one of the ugliest on-field fights in cricket history.
Pakistan was staring down the barrel in the 1st Test at Perth when Javed Miandad came in to bat in the 2nd innings. A fired up Lillee aided by an insistent crowd were giving Javed Miandad and Mansoor Akhtar a torrid time but the duo held fort. With a decent partnership building, an ugly onfield brawl took place between Lillee and Miandad.
While completing a single Miandad collided with Lillee but footage clearly suggested that Lille was the one at fault blocking Miandad’s way. Lillee then came and tried to kick Miandad and the Pakistani almost threw back the bat at Lillee. Umpires had to intervene and control the tension.
#9 Venkatesh Prasad vs Aamer Sohail
The arch rivals locked horns in the quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup. India played brilliantly after batting first setting Pakistan a stiff target of 288 to chase in 49 overs. Pakistan started off in terrific fashion scoring runs at seven runs per over. Aamer Sohail was batting well. With the score at 109, Sohail charged down the track to a Venkatesh Prasad delivery and clubbed it through the cover region for a four.
He gestured at Prasad indicating him that the next ball would also go in that direction. The verbal war came in to peg Pakistan as Venkatesh Prasad bowled a perfect delivery in the next ball to shatter Sohail’s stump. Prasad gestured back to Sohail indicating him the way towards the dressing room. It was a terrific match in which India prevailed to qualify for the semi-finals.
#8 Shantakumaran Sreesanth vs Andre Nel
India was touring South Africa in 2006 for a 3 match Test series. The 1st test of the series was played at Johannesburg and India was in a strong position in the 2nd innings after bundling out South Africa for only 79 runs. Sreesanth and VRV Singh were at the crease with the score reading 219/9. Andre Nel was steaming in and gave Sreesanth a mouthful.
Sreesanth was not a man to back away from any verbal duel and he responded both with the mouth and bat. In the following ball, Sreesanth danced down the track to Nel and hit him over his head for a six. After hitting the six he ran towards Nel and did a unique celebratory jig which left everyone bemused.
“It just happened. I myself wondered when I saw it (later on TV). My brother and friends had e-mailed me about it," said Sreesanth recalling the incident. "As soon as I walked in to bat, Nel said 'I can smell blood. You do not have the guts.' Showing his emblem on the shirt, Nel said 'I am playing for this. You are a scared fellow, rabbit. I will get you next ball'.
"Before delivering the next ball, Nel had also asked Mark Boucher to stay back and had also moved the short leg fielder. I being a fast bowler myself, knew Nel was going to bowl a bouncer. I just took my chance and prayed to God. I stepped out to connect the ball which flew over the ropes." Sreesanth said.
#7 Andrew Flintoff vs Yuvraj Singh
The inaugural edition of the ICC World Twenty in 2007 witnessed some amazing performances by the Indians who under the captaincy of MS Dhoni went on to lift the World Cup title. In India’s second match of the super eight stage against England, Yuvraj and Flintoff were involved in an onfield brawl which resulted in the English all-rounder ruing it for the rest of his life.
Yuvraj was new to the crease when Flintoff went up to him and got into an on-field banter with the southpaw. Yuvraj later revealed what Flintoff had said to him which urged him to achieve a very rare feat in the very next over. The conversation goes like,
Flintoff: Those were f***ing ridiculous shotsYuvraj: F*** youFlintoff: Excuse me?Yuvraj: You heard what I saidFlintoff: I will cut your throat offYuvraj: You see this bat in my hand. You know where I am gonna hit you with this bat?
The man to suffer was Stuart Broad who was belted for 6 monstrous sixes all around Durban in the next over with Yuvraj also bringing up the fastest fifty in limited overs cricket in only 12 balls.
#6 Harbhajan Singh vs Andrew Symonds
The Indians were touring Australia for a 4 match Test series in 2008 under the captaincy of Anil Kumble. After losing the 1st Test, the Indians were batting well in the 1st innings after several umpiring blunders allowed Australia to score 463 in the 1st innings after being reduced to 134/6 at one stage.
Sahin Tendulkar was batting with Harbhajan Singh when the ugly feud between Harbhajan and Symonds took place. Symonds had passed some comments towards Harbhajan to which the off-spinner replied in his own style. Symonds thought Harbhajan had called him monkey despite Tendulkar telling it was an Indian slang which sounded similar.
Due to the racial comment, Harbhajan was banned for 3 Tests but he challenged the ban while the Indians threatened to forfeit the tour. Despite the controversy, the Men in Blue continued with the tour and register a famous victory in the 3rd test at Perth. Harbhajan’s ban was lifted after the 3rd Test.
#5 Mitchell Johnson vs Virat Kohli
The Indian Test captain is one of the most expressive persons in the cricket field and is never shy of expressing his emotions in the field.
In India’s tour Down Under in 2014-15, Kohli was involved in an onfield brawl with speedster Mitchell Johnson. Not only once but the duo was involved in many such heated arguments throughout the summer. In one such incident, Johnson threw the ball back at Kohli which hit his leg after the Delhi batsman had punched it back to Johnson. Johnson immediately raised his arms for an apology but Kohli was clearly upset with the incident and hurled a flurry of words towards Johnson.
The incident certainly affected Kohli’s concentration and he almost gave away his wicket in the next 10 balls or so. He eventually gathered back his concentration and went on to smash Johnson all around the park.
#4 Gautam Gambhir vs Shahid Afridi
Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi were involved in an ugly spat when Pakistan toured India in 2007-08. While taking a single Gambhir ran into Shahid Afridi urging a verbal spat between the two. There was an initial exchange of words between them but after the collision, the situation got worse.
Gambhir went charging toward Afridi after the collision as the duo were involved in a heated argument. The stump mic revealed foul words being used by both the players. Afridi gestured to Gambhir to go back to his position. Meanwhile,the umpires had to intervene to settle the matter.
#3 Kieron Pollard vs Mitchell Starc
The 2014 IPL witnessed one of the ugliest fights in cricket. The incident occurred in the 17th over of Mumbai’s innings in a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Starc bowled a bouncer at Pollard who was beaten while attempting a hook. The left arm quickie went up to the batsman and spoke a few words and Pollard’s reaction was just to wave him off. He gestured to Starc to go to his mark and bowl.
As Starc ran into bowl, Pollard pulled out of the delivery while the bowler was approaching his jump. Starc did not abort the delivery and instead bowled the delivery targeting Pollard. The Caribbean responded by swinging his bat hard appearing to threaten the bowler to hit him which eventually fell on the leg side after slipping out of his hands. Both of the players expressed their disappointment at the incident and kept on exchanging words.
Starc later ran Pollard out, but not before taunting the hopelessly stranded batsman, asking him to try and make his crease.
#2 Shane Warne vs Marlon Samuels
Shane Warne and Marlon Samuels were involved in an ugly confrontation in a Big Bash League match in January 2013. Samuels angered the hosts during Melbourne Renegades innings when he allegedly grabbed David Hussey while he was turning to take his 2nd run and Warne let him know about that incident when came into bat.
In a verbal duel picked up by the microphone, Warne criticised Samuels for his unsporting behaviour and ran up to him to grab his shirt and jabbed his figure in his face. Tempers reached the boiling point in the next over when Warne threw back a ball at Samuels fielding in a close quarter even when the batsman was well within his crease. The incident angered Samuels as he threw his bat over Warne’s head before umpires rushed in to calm the situation.
Later in the presentation ceremony, Warne said that it was all done in the heat of the moment.
#1 Jason Anderson and George O’Brien
One of the ugliest brawls in world cricket took place between two Bermuda club cricketers during the Country’s Champion of Champions final in 2015. The incident resulted in one of them being banned for life and other handed a lengthy suspension by the Bermuda Cricket Board.
At the end of an over during the game, Clevland County Cricket Club’s wicket-keeper Jason Anderson smashed Willow Cuts Cricket Club’s batsman George O’Brien on the head to spark off a massive fight. O’Brien swung his bat around Anderson who was calm for a moment but rushed towards the batsman immediately and pushed him to the ground. He then appeared to aim a kick at O’ Brien’s body as the pair had to be separated by a large number of players and match officials.
The Cleveland Club imposed many more sanctions on Anderson banning him from participating in any sporting activities for life. Writing in his column for The Royal Gazette, Cleveland coach Clay Smith revealed it was a new low in Bermuda cricket.
"Our standards of discipline have slipped tremendously, and what is deemed acceptable on the field of play is completely unacceptable," Smith wrote. "Too few players are being written up for what some may deem minor infractions.
"There is a solution to this madness, it just requires the Bermuda Cricket Board to implement the code of conduct that players are expected to play under at the ICC international level."
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