9 Instances when calm cricketers lost their cool

9 Instances when calm cricketers lost their cool: Cricket is a gentleman’s game. But most of the modern day cricketers are the ambassadors of aggression. They carry their heart on their sleeves and do not hesitate to express their emotions through their body language and verbal exchanges. There are players Australian like David Warner, Mitchell Johnson and Ricky Ponting who are known for their sledging antics, the guys like Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli who believe in giving it back; and then there are others like Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara, Hashim Amla and MS Dhoni who carried the baton of the spirit of the gentleman’s game. But imagine what would perspire if the calm cricketers lost their cool? Here are the 9 Instances when calm cricketers lost their cool: 1. Sunil Gavaskar fumes out of the ground: In India’s tour down under in the 1980-81, Australian umpire Rex Whitehead was under the scrutiny for taking some brave decisions which predominantly were against the Indian players. The disgust among the Indian players was justified. In the third Test of the series, Sunil Gavaskar was adjudged LBW by Whitehead. Gavaskar who was pretty sure that he had an inside edge on the delivery was not willing to leave the field. He was so disgusted that he convinced his batting partner, Chetan Chauhan, to leave the field with him as a protest. The duo left the field. Indian team Director Salim Durani, after a lot of debate and discussion, convinced Chauhan to go back to the field and the matter was settled down. Also Read – Top 10 Greatest Sledging Incidents in Cricket History 2. Kumar Sangakkara hits back at opposition the captain: (© LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) In the 5th ODI at Colombo in 2009, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara hit back at his counterpart Pakistan skipper, Younis Khan, during the match. Younis was playing well and eventually went on to make 76 runs in the match. It was during the match that Sangakkara and Lankan team appealed for a caught behind which was turned down by the umpire. Sanga was involved in a heated argument with his opposite captain Younis Khan after he was ruled not out on 70 by umpire Gamini Silva. Replays showed he had nicked Dammika Prasad. Sangakkara lost his cool and had a long argument with Younis who seemed initially amused by the whole incident but later moved the incident to the umpire’s attention. 3. Inzamam-Ul-Haq unhappy being dismissed in an unconventional way: During the first ODI of the Hutch Cup between India and Pakistan in 2006, Inzamam Ul-Haq was dismissed in the most unusual manner, obstructing the field. Inzamam, who was known to be the gentle giant of the game, never really expressed his emotions on the field. But in the match when Inzamam drove the ball to mid-off, Suresh Raina threw it back to the striker’s end, and Inzamam stopped it with his bat. The Indians appealed promptly and Umpire Simon Taufel ruled him out. Inzamam looked back in disbelief and was certainly not pleased. Although his anger didn’t show up on the ground, he later went on to heavily criticize the Indian team for not being sportive enough. Another incident of the burly batsman losing his calm when in 1997, he assaulted a member in the crowd, Shiv Kumar Thind, for calling him a potato. He was charged by the Canadian Police for physical Assault. 4. Matt Prior breaks the glass: Matt Prior. (© Getty Images) During the 2nd Test at Lords of the Sri Lanka’s tour to England in 2011, Matt Prior was adjudged run out by the umpire. Clearly frustrated with the decision and obviously his own self, Prior broke the glass panes of the windows in the pavilion on his way back to the dressing room. Prior, who is usually not known for his aggressive antics, was seen in utter disgust. A female spectator suffered a minor cut from the glass piece that flew off. However, Prior later called the incident as an accident and unintentional. He also apologized to the spectator. 5. Mahela Jayawardene exchanged words with Aussies: Mahela Jayawardene, perhaps one of the calmest cricketers we have seen in world cricket, lost his cool, not just once but twice against the Aussies. During the 2nd T20 match in 2012-13 season at the MCG, Jayawardene was seen getting involved in a verbal clash with Glenn Maxwell who threatened to take the game away from the Lankans. Jayawardene was not pleased when Maxwell provoked the bowler in the last over and decided to take the wrong turn. The second instance was during a Test Match when Michael Clarke took a diving low catch to dismiss Jayawardene. Clarke stressed on the fact that he had caught it cleanly while Jaya waited for the umpire’s call. Amidst this, the two players lost their calmness and it resulted in a war of words between them. 6. Suresh Raina fires back at Jadeja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg1BzipPzqE It is usually seen that the fights are between the opposition players; very rarely do we see two players from the same team being involved in an ugly spat. During the Celkon Cup in 2013, Jadeja was not pleased with Raina dropping two catches off his bowling. It is believed that Jadeja said a few things which Raina couldn’t handle. He tried to settle down the situation with his calmness; but when Jadeja continued to be agitated, Raina responded back in the same manner. 7. Jacques Kallis gives a mouthful to Roach During the third Test match at Barbados in 2010 against West Indies, South African legend Kallis lost his temper. Kallis is perhaps one of the calmest cricketers to have ever played the game, but on the day he was one of the calm players who lost his cool. Pacer Kemar Roach was running in and digging in short balls at Kallis. He wasn’t very pleased at this and eventually lost his cool. The two players sledged each other and the non-striker Hashim Amla had to intervene. Things didn’t settle down too soon and the West Indian players and the umpires had to finally sort out the issues. 8. MS Dhoni has an argument with the umpire: During the CW series in 2012 between India and Australia, the captain cool of India finally lost his cool. Dhoni has been very frank with his opinions on the umpiring all through his career for which he has also been fined on one occasion; but on the day, he decided to argue with the on-field umpires instead. The Indians appealed for the stumping decision and third umpire Bruce Oxenford pressed the wrong button to adjudge Mike Hussey as out. When the mistake was corrected by the on-field umpires, Dhoni didn’t look too pleased and had a word with the umpires; or perhaps more than just a word! 9. Rahul Dravid loses it too! One would never believe that Rahul Dravid could ever get angry. The perfect gentleman of the game lost his calmness. During the Champions Trophy match between India and Pakistan in 2004, Dravid had an altercation with Akhtar. Dravid wasn’t too pleased with the gestures that Akhtar made to him and got into a verbal spat with the speedster. Pakistan skipper Inzamam-Ul-Haq had to intervene to settle things down between the two players. Also Read – Top 5 Worst Altercations in Cricket History