5 Biggest altercations in IPL history

Is cricket still a gentleman’s game? This is one question that hampers so many interpretations of incidents, making something bad look way too ugly. The game’s unheralded transition and the unprecedented rise of the shortest format, powered by IPL, has made one thing clear that everything cannot be categorized under the “Spirit of the game”.

The Indian Premier League has seen a fair share of controversies in the last few seasons, which ignited the gentleman’s game prospect time and again. As much as the tournament bonded people together, it also lit up fire between some who already didn’t have a cordial relationship previously.

Here are five altercations that will remain infamous for a very long duration:

1. Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc

Perhaps the most violent and infamous altercation that ever happened in IPL history. Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard took centre stage during a Mumbai-Bangalore game at the Wankhede in 2014. Pollard has had a long history with Australian players and this was just another name added to a long list.

In the 17th over, when Starc came steaming in to throw the cherry, Pollard moved away from the crease, signaling that he wasn’t ready to face the delivery. A frustrated Starc continued his action and released the ball, which went inches away from striking Pollard. The West Indian threw his bat on Starc out of anger and the play was stopped for a good ten minutes to resolve the issue.

Pollard ran angrily towards the umpires to complain about the Australian’s actions and the RCB skipper got involved to have a word with both the players. RCB’s main man Chris Gayle calmed his fellow countryman, but Kohli remained unhappy with Pollard’s gesture.