It has been quite evident over the years in Indian Cricket that Delhi boys get charged up easily and involve themselves in some heated moments.
On-field spat, sledding, and aggression have always added flavor to the game. They are enjoyable from the viewer”s point of view but the ‘gentleman’s game’ did turn out to be offensive when they became ugly.
Aggression becomes necessary at times in sport to justify your commitment and make sure you give your 100% out there in the field.
The Indian player who has involved himself in on-field spats the most in cricket history has to be Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw from Delhi got into altercations with players from almost every nation, Pakistan being the most and did not even spare his teammates.
Let’s have a look at some of the ugly ones.
- Gautam Gambhir – Kamran Akmal (Asia Cup, 2010)
Akmal infuriated Gautam Gambhir so much that after the over had finished, Gambhir walked straight up to Akmal menacingly and confronted him about the appeal. Then the two clash in a forehead to forehead, eyeball to eyeball confrontation. Umpires and MS Dhoni intervened to handle the situation.
- Gautam Gambhir – Virat Kohli (IPL 2013)
The incident happened after Kohli went for a wild slash but was caught in the sweeper cover region. Kohli was on his way towards pavilion but he stopped in his tracks and was visibly angry as it looked like something was being said by the opposition. Suddenly, Gambhir was seen walking angrily towards his junior India teammate and quite a few words were exchanged between them. Another Delhi boy, Rajat Bhatia came in between and separated them.
- Gautam Gambhir – Shahid Afridi (2007)
- Gautam Gambhir – Shane Watson (2008)
After tea, the local boy also argued with part-time spinner Simon Katich – the bowler appeared to have halted Gambhir from taking a run – and the pair was separated by umpire Billy Bowden.
- Gautam Gambhir – Manoj Tiwary (Ranji, 2015-16)
The incident happened in the 8th over when Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee got out of Manan Sharma”s bowling and skipper Manoj Tiwary came in to bat at No. 4 wearing a cap. Tiwary first took guard and was about to take strike to Manan. But he stopped the bowler and signaled at the dressing room to bring his helmet as a pacer was operating from the other end.
Manan ticked off Manoj and he told him to lay off. All of a sudden, Gambhir, at first slip, got into the action and started abusing the Bengal skipper, who then struck back.
Manoj was then seen shouting at Gambhir, saying: “Did I tell you anything? Why did you have to come in between.”
“Shaam ko mil tujhe maroonga (Meet me in the evening, I will hit you),” Gambhir was quoted as saying.