Top 10 Big Famous Cricket Fights
Cricket might be a gentleman’s game, but at the field and in the midst of the heat, even gentlemen have to roll up their sleeves to stand for what’s just. It so happens that, players just can’t hold back their excitement in the midst of a thrilling game. I mean who wouldn’t get hyper, taking the wicket of the most dangerous batsman in the world; or who wouldn’t share a stink eye with a bowler who almost knocked you down the last ball. Though most aggression’s and hyperactivity are pretty much neglected and are often forgotten off the field, some have endured. In fact some fights have brought so much tension, that even the fans were involved in some of them. So let us take a look at the top 10 Famous fights in cricketing history.
10. Steve Waugh V/s Ambrose
Usually the Australians are known for their tactics of intimidating opponent team players to force them to make a mistake. But if the world cricket knew any better, Steve Waugh wasn’t one of them. But as it happens even this timid little gentleman was intimidated by the giant Curtly Ambrose. Back in 1995, when the gigantic pacer was hurling, what might be meteors at Steve Waugh; it would have served well, if Steve Waugh had just focused on his game. But as fate has it, he didn’t and swore at the bowler. This literally drove Ambrose insane, who came charging in to maul Steve Waugh. But thanks to the team mates he survived a wild thrashing.
9. Minnows not to be meddled with
Though it’s a well-known fact that major teams like to take their psychological intimidating to minnow teams, sometimes they go a little too far and get the appropriate response. The classic case of this was represented by Balaji Rao of Canada in the ICC World Cup 2011. Renowned for his classic beer-belly and his rather funny actions on the field, Balaji soon became the premier target for minnow intimidation. During the match versus Pakistan, probably the players went a bit too far to tease the Canadian. This led to an erupted Balaji Rao swearing at the whole Pakistani team, as if he had been specially recruited in to the Canadian playing 11 to swear at the opponents.
8. Kemar Roach
Sometimes people get into fight for no apparent reasons, and sometimes people get into fight just for the fun of it. But in Kemar Roach’s case, he seemed to have got into a fight just to humiliate his already losing side. During the third Barbados test against South Africa, the Bowling arsenal of the West Indians had all dried up. And when the premier batsman is hitting you around the park, what do you do. Well just follow what the seniors of the Caribbean have always done – Bowl Bouncers and force the batsman into defense. But Kemar Roach went a step ahead and shared some foul words as well. But as it turned out, none of it worked and the West Indians still faced a humiliating defeat.
7. The Great Australian Trap
Usually it’s quite decipherable when a player is being intimidated by the opponent team. In Australia’s case, more than decipherable it is actually quite visible. But for Roshan Mahanama it was all a lucky accident; lucky at least for the Australians. During an over of Shane Warne, who was rather finding it difficult to contain the Sri Lankan, got Roshan Mahanama in a caught behind appeal. But as the referee thought otherwise the match resumed, but surprisingly Roshan was out the next ball. What happened in the middle was the Wicket keeper had made rather disrespectful remarks about the batsman. This turned him aggressive and cost him his wicket. Way to fall into an open trap Mahanama.
6. The Rawalpindi Express
Indians and Pakistanis are not exactly well known for getting along, and especially when it’s a heated final match. During the Asia Cup, Shoaib Akhtar, the then bowling ace of Pakistan, was giving every one of the Indian players a hard time. With his 150 kmph bullets and lethal stares, even the Wall had to succumb. But the brave Harbhajan begged to differ. During the end overs, Harbhajan singh sent one of Akhtar’s balls to the stands. This terribly annoyed him and led him to swear at the calm looking Indian spinner. But Harbhajan didn’t back off, despite his efforts, Akhtar still couldn’t get Harbhajan’s wicket, which only lead to the Spinner leading India to victory. What followed from Harbhajan, can only be regarded as War Cries of a unleashed beast.
5. Inside the Mind of McGrath.
If you ever thought the inside out shot was the greatest invention of cricket in modern times, you’re wrong. Because, if the inside-out shot was the world’s first rifle, sledging is the nuke. Though the Australians are renowned for using it, none would have expected it to have come from the bowling ace – Glenn McGrath. During the Windies record 4th inning chase, Australians desperately needed to derail the lead – Ramnaresh Sarwan. So Glenn resorted to his dirty sledging tactics. Though this was supposed to work, in turn it worked back on McGrath, who was on the verge of ripping Sarwan’s throat. A good lesson learnt by the Aussies.
4. Gambhir Takes on Afridi
Some of the classic cricket fights have emerged from the matches between India and Pakistan. These neighboring countries have been at it since the dawn of time, and it would be hard for someone to pinpoint a match where these two teams haven’t got into a fight. The latest one and the most famous one to emerge was between Gambhir and Afridi. The left handed opener took on the slow-pacer, and sent his deliveries flying to the boundary. So what’s the next step in the book, swear at each other. This turned out to be a swear contest in a mix of Hindi and Urdu. So probably the Umpire had no idea they were even swearing at each other.
3. The Lillee Kick
Any batsman gets frustrated when you’re blocking his path to the crease. And if it’s done deliberately, you can expect some text book swear words being exchanged on the field. But what’s the next step, well according to Dennis Lillee, it was to kick the batsman so he would take it in a lighter way. But unfortunate for him, the person he kicked was the short tempered javed Miandad, who was just a feet short from breaking Lillee’s head if it wasn’t for the umpire. Surely Dennis would never field at the slips again.
2. How to annoy the Sleeping Giant
Inzamam – ul – Haq or more affectionately called Inzi is not exactly the most active fielder on the field. Judging from his size, one can already imagine the amount of practice he puts into the game. So as a reward he takes his silent little naps in the slips during the match. But as it happens even this sleeping giant can turn into a hyper excited hare. During a match in India, one notorious spectator somehow got control of the Public announcement system and started calling out to Inzi. This obviously wouldn’t have woken him up, but he referred to him an Alu or potato in English. This put the sleeping giant in a rage, who set out with the bat to give the spectator a whack; running all over the stadium. So, learn this folks – never mess with people sleeping on the field.
1. Don’t mess with Venkatesh’s Swag
The top famous fight in the cricketing history was between Aamir Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad. What Venkatesh demonstrated to Sohail was that, if someone is going to point directions, Venkatesh was the wrong person to show them to. After hitting myriad of boundaries, Sohail did exactly that, by pointing the direction in which the next ball will disappear. But, rather expectedly, his off-stump was uprooted the next ball, and Venkatesh went on a frenzy, spewing all kinds of swear words at Sohail. So know this people, don’t ever mess with Venkatesh’s swag.
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