Cricket is called the gentleman's game, but that doesn't stop cricketers from taking a dig or two at their opponents. A word for verbal anti-social behaviour often known as ‘sledging', it is a tactic used by players to provoke their opponents to commit a mistake. Here are 5 classic instances of sledging from the world of cricket, when batsmen had the last laugh over the bowlers by replying to their sledges with a six.
#1 Zaheer Khan v/s Brett Lee
The final match of the 2007 ODI series between India and Australia saw two great fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Brett Lee get involved in a sledging incident. Lee initiated the fight after delivering a yorker directed towards the leg stump, which hit bat first and then the pad of the right-handed batsman. The Aussie speedster threw some words at the Indian lower order batsman as he followed through and ran up the pitch to collect the ball.
Zaheer replied to Lee’s words in the best way possible, hitting a six on the very next ball. He chose the safest part in a cricket field, that is over the bowler’s head to sent the ball over the fence. Brett Lee got a perfect answer from Zaheer as he watched the ball sail over long on into the crowd.
#2 Sachin Tendulkar v/s Abdul Qadir
Not very long after his Test debut did Sachin Tendulkar get involved in a war of words with Pakistani cricketer Abdul Qadir. This incident took place when the two teams, India and Pakistan faced each other in an exhibition match at Peshawar, which was reduced to a 20-20 game instead of a 50-50 one, due to rains.
Sachin looked at his very best as usual, as he smashed a young Mushtaq Ahmed for two sixes in an over. A frustrated Abdul Qadir took up the challenge next in the very next over as he was heard saying “Why are you hitting a kid? Try and hit me” to the master blaster. For all of us to laugh at, the over ended 6,0,4,6,6,6.
#3 Sreesanth vs Andrew Nel
One of the craziest sledging incidents you will ever see was the one between Indian pacer Sreesanth and Andrew Nel of South Africa.
India had lost their 9 out of 10 wickets when Sreesanth came into bat. Andre Nel, known for his sledging, didn’t move out of his habit this time also after bowling a dot one on the first ball of the 63rd over.
He was seen thumping the South African crest on the left of his chest and spitting some words at the Indian. However, quite unexpectedly, Sreesanth managed to hit the ball over the boundary for a six the very next delivery and swung, his bat like a helicopter over his head which makes the incident even more significant.
#4 Viv Richards vs Greg Thomas
This incident took place in a county match in England, when Greg Thomas bowled a few deliveries which went past Viv Richards. After Richards played and missed another one, Thomas said: "It's red, it's round. Now fucken hit it!". This obviously angered Richards who proceeded to hit the next ball out of the ground into a river. Richards replied "You know what it looks like now go and get it."
#5 Shoaib Akhtar vs Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar
Pakistani spearhead, Shoaib Akhtar has always been a man with controversies. One of his famous sledging incidents was when he got a reply that will hurt him for long from Indian opening pair Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
The encounter between India and Pakistan in world Cup 2003 saw Pakistan bat first and achieve a total of 273. Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had to deal with Shoaib Akhtar and his fiery pace from the very beginning. Akhtar attacked Sehwag wth contnuous bouncers and provoked him saying “hook maar ke dikha” (Hook it and show me). Sehwag replied “Woh non striker pe tera baap khara hai, woh dikhayega” (Your father who is standing at the non strikers end will show you that pointing obviously towards Sachin Tendulkar.
The next time Sachin faced Shoaib and he released a bouncer, the little master sailed it over the fence for the maximum. Virender Sehwag obviously had the last laugh as he said “baap, baap hota hai” (The dad is the dad).
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
