Sledging is the part of the game which doesn&#8217;t have specifics in the rule book nor being taught to a budding cricketer. However, to be honest, sledging can only make a game more fun to watch wherein the batsman hits a leather ball with a wooden bat.

A batsman uses his bat as his weapon, but it is the calmness in his mind which enables him to stay focussed. Therefore, the tactic of sledging is mostly adopted by the fielding side, in order to disrupt the composed mind of a batsman.

But sometimes these sledges or banter turn into ugly spats. Verbal duels, provocative actions, prolonged stares are part of this act. The very righteous, moral, gentleman’s game, at times, is adulterated by the players in the desperation of gaining an upper hand over the opposition.

While it may be an exciting event to watch for the fans, the players in the middle may not quite enjoy being in a non-cricketing quarrel. Indian Premier League, in its history of a dozen seasons, has seen its share of sledging. With a huge amount of money and reputation of each player and team riding on every game, altercations are bound to happen.

Here we bring you top three incidents of sledging in the cash-rich league:

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-362320" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-and-Mitchell-Starc.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362320" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Perhaps this is the ugliest on-field conflict involving a batsman and a bowler in the history of IPL. Two giants of their respective fields, Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard&#8211; standing at heights of 6’6” and 6’5” respectively&#8211; were up against each other. One, who is amongst the fiercest fast bowlers of any generation and another, who is known to dismantle any bowling attack with his lusty blows.

The scene for a dramatic stretch is set; IPL 2014, an electric <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/wankhede-stadium-to-not-turn-into-quarantine-centre-after-local-residents-complain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wankhede Stadium</a>, death overs, Starc against well-set pair of Pollard and Rohit Sharma. On the fourth ball of the 17th over, Starc bowls a bouncer which Pollard fails to connect with his hook shot. Like a typical Aussie fast bowler, Starc sends some verbal sledges towards Pollard. The West Indian doesn’t want to get into any altercation and motions the bowler with his hand to just go back on his bowling mark.

Moments later is when madness ensued. Starc runs in to bowl and as he is about to deliver, Pollard moves away from his batting crease. The speedster is distraught and despite Pollard moving away, he sends down the ball towards the batter anyway. The Trinidadian furiously throws his bat in Starc’s direction. Fortunately &#8211; for Starc &#8211; the bat slips out of Pollard’s hand and gets thumped on the ground.

The crowd goes into a frenzied state, Rohit tries to calm down the Pollard, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/first-of-all-you-shouldnt-bowl-to-him-ms-dhonis-hilarious-advise-to-shahbaz-nadeem-to-tackle-chris-gayle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Gayle</a> comes and has a chat with his compatriot, and the umpires rush towards him to pacify things down. In the strategic break, Virat Kohli has a heated dialogue exchange with the MI batsman. The battle remains even as Pollard scores a boundary of Starc but later the bowler runs him out. This is what happens when two behemoths of the cricketing world collide.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-430650" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/David-Warner-and-Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="David Warner and Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-430650" class="wp-caption-text">David Warner and Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: YouTube)</figcaption>

David Warner’s nickname given to him by his Aussies teammates, ‘The Bull’, very aptly suited him before his one-year ban. He was always in an ultra-aggressive mode – while both batting and fielding – and ready to have a bout with the opposition. Apart from his brutal ball-striking ability, the left-hander is famous, or rather infamous, for his sledging incidents and an always ‘in-your-face’ competitive attitude.

Warner was involved in one such incident with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/3-players-which-mumbai-indians-mi-produced-for-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mumbai Indians</a>’ pacer Zaheer Khan. In the 2014 edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and so did Warner and Zaheer.

During the fourth ball of the 18th over, the Aussie took a single as the ball rolled over to the point fielder. In the course, Zaheer and Warner exchanged a few words. Warner made a shushing gesture by keeping his index finger on his mouth in a way to signal Zaheer to be quiet. Zak on his way glared back at Warner.

On the last ball of the over, the batsman could only manage another single. But this time both the players smiled at each other and eradicated the heated sentiments. The southpaw was dismissed in the next over, but not before scoring a 51-ball-65, including 4 mammoth sixes. Hyderabad won the game by 15 runs on the back of Warner’s half-century and some disciplined bowling by Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-362321" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Gautam-Gambhir-and-Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362321" class="wp-caption-text">Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

In IPL 2013, 30,000 fans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium along with the entire world saw a glimpse of naked aggression between two Indian colossi; one at the fag end of his career, and the other who is beginning to script his name in the record books. Gambhir and Kohli are well known for their unfiltered vocal disputes on the field with opposition cricketers.

On 11 April 2013, RCB were chasing a target of 155 against KKR. The match was tilting towards RCB as their skipper was taking on the Knight Riders’ bowlers. On the first delivery of the 10th over by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/which-mask-can-hide-the-virus-affecting-our-minds-lakshmipathy-balaji-opens-up-on-racial-discrimination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lakshmipathy Balaji</a>, looking for another boundary, Virat Kohli was caught by Eoin Morgan at the deep cover position.

The fielders converged towards Balaji to celebrate, including Gambhir who ran in from the point position in the circle. While Kohli started trudging back towards the dressing room, he heard some words from the KKR skipper, and with no delay replied with a few of his own. All eyes transferred from Morgan and went straight to the two Delhi lads who were charging at each other, not to shake hands, surely, but to have a severe go at one another.

Thankfully, as they were at some distance apart, Rajat Bhatia, the KKR all-rounder, intruded into their space and walled between them. The umpire Anil Chaudhary too quickly intervened to separate them. An infuriated Kohli hurled down some expletives – to Gautam or on the frustration of getting out, we can only assume – on his way to the dressing room. If not for some sanity among the players, we were about to witness an all Delhi Battle Royal; Kohli, Gambhir, Bhatia and even the umpire Anil Chaudhary, all hail from Delhi. Phew!

Sledging is the part of the game which doesn’t have specifics in the rule book nor being taught to a budding cricketer. However, to be honest, sledging can only make a game more fun to watch wherein the batsman hits a leather ball with a wooden bat.
A batsman uses his bat as his weapon, but it is the calmness in his mind which enables him to stay focussed. Therefore, the tactic of sledging is mostly adopted by the fielding side, in order to disrupt the composed mind of a batsman.
But sometimes these sledges or banter turn into ugly spats. Verbal duels, provocative actions, prolonged stares are part of this act. The very righteous, moral, gentleman’s game, at times, is adulterated by the players in the desperation of gaining an upper hand over the opposition.
While it may be an exciting event to watch for the fans, the players in the middle may not quite enjoy being in a non-cricketing quarrel. Indian Premier League, in its history of a dozen seasons, has seen its share of sledging. With a huge amount of money and reputation of each player and team riding on every game, altercations are bound to happen.
Here we bring you top three incidents of sledging in the cash-rich league:
<h3>1. Kieron Pollard-Mitchell Starc</h3>
<figure id="attachment_362320" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-362320" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-362320" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-and-Mitchell-Starc.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362320" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps this is the ugliest on-field conflict involving a batsman and a bowler in the history of IPL. Two giants of their respective fields, Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard– standing at heights of 6’6” and 6’5” respectively– were up against each other. One, who is amongst the fiercest fast bowlers of any generation and another, who is known to dismantle any bowling attack with his lusty blows.
The scene for a dramatic stretch is set; IPL 2014, an electric <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/wankhede-stadium-to-not-turn-into-quarantine-centre-after-local-residents-complain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wankhede Stadium</a>, death overs, Starc against well-set pair of Pollard and Rohit Sharma. On the fourth ball of the 17th over, Starc bowls a bouncer which Pollard fails to connect with his hook shot. Like a typical Aussie fast bowler, Starc sends some verbal sledges towards Pollard. The West Indian doesn’t want to get into any altercation and motions the bowler with his hand to just go back on his bowling mark.
Moments later is when madness ensued. Starc runs in to bowl and as he is about to deliver, Pollard moves away from his batting crease. The speedster is distraught and despite Pollard moving away, he sends down the ball towards the batter anyway. The Trinidadian furiously throws his bat in Starc’s direction. Fortunately – for Starc – the bat slips out of Pollard’s hand and gets thumped on the ground.
The crowd goes into a frenzied state, Rohit tries to calm down the Pollard, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/first-of-all-you-shouldnt-bowl-to-him-ms-dhonis-hilarious-advise-to-shahbaz-nadeem-to-tackle-chris-gayle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Gayle</a> comes and has a chat with his compatriot, and the umpires rush towards him to pacify things down. In the strategic break, Virat Kohli has a heated dialogue exchange with the MI batsman. The battle remains even as Pollard scores a boundary of Starc but later the bowler runs him out. This is what happens when two behemoths of the cricketing world collide.

<h3>2. David Warner-Zaheer Khan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_430650" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-430650" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-430650" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/David-Warner-and-Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="David Warner and Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-430650" class="wp-caption-text">David Warner and Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: YouTube)</figcaption></figure>
David Warner’s nickname given to him by his Aussies teammates, ‘The Bull’, very aptly suited him before his one-year ban. He was always in an ultra-aggressive mode – while both batting and fielding – and ready to have a bout with the opposition. Apart from his brutal ball-striking ability, the left-hander is famous, or rather infamous, for his sledging incidents and an always ‘in-your-face’ competitive attitude.
Warner was involved in one such incident with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/3-players-which-mumbai-indians-mi-produced-for-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mumbai Indians</a>’ pacer Zaheer Khan. In the 2014 edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and so did Warner and Zaheer.
During the fourth ball of the 18th over, the Aussie took a single as the ball rolled over to the point fielder. In the course, Zaheer and Warner exchanged a few words. Warner made a shushing gesture by keeping his index finger on his mouth in a way to signal Zaheer to be quiet. Zak on his way glared back at Warner.
On the last ball of the over, the batsman could only manage another single. But this time both the players smiled at each other and eradicated the heated sentiments. The southpaw was dismissed in the next over, but not before scoring a 51-ball-65, including 4 mammoth sixes. Hyderabad won the game by 15 runs on the back of Warner’s half-century and some disciplined bowling by Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

<h3>3. Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir</h3>
<figure id="attachment_362321" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-362321" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-362321" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Gautam-Gambhir-and-Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362321" class="wp-caption-text">Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
In IPL 2013, 30,000 fans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium along with the entire world saw a glimpse of naked aggression between two Indian colossi; one at the fag end of his career, and the other who is beginning to script his name in the record books. Gambhir and Kohli are well known for their unfiltered vocal disputes on the field with opposition cricketers.
On 11 April 2013, RCB were chasing a target of 155 against KKR. The match was tilting towards RCB as their skipper was taking on the Knight Riders’ bowlers. On the first delivery of the 10th over by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/which-mask-can-hide-the-virus-affecting-our-minds-lakshmipathy-balaji-opens-up-on-racial-discrimination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lakshmipathy Balaji</a>, looking for another boundary, Virat Kohli was caught by Eoin Morgan at the deep cover position.
The fielders converged towards Balaji to celebrate, including Gambhir who ran in from the point position in the circle. While Kohli started trudging back towards the dressing room, he heard some words from the KKR skipper, and with no delay replied with a few of his own. All eyes transferred from Morgan and went straight to the two Delhi lads who were charging at each other, not to shake hands, surely, but to have a severe go at one another.
Thankfully, as they were at some distance apart, Rajat Bhatia, the KKR all-rounder, intruded into their space and walled between them. The umpire Anil Chaudhary too quickly intervened to separate them. An infuriated Kohli hurled down some expletives – to Gautam or on the frustration of getting out, we can only assume – on his way to the dressing room. If not for some sanity among the players, we were about to witness an all Delhi Battle Royal; Kohli, Gambhir, Bhatia and even the umpire Anil Chaudhary, all hail from Delhi. Phew!

Sledging is the part of the game which doesn&#8217;t have specifics in the rule book nor being taught to a budding cricketer. However, to be honest, sledging can only make a game more fun to watch wherein the batsman hits a leather ball with a wooden bat.
A batsman uses his bat as his weapon, but it is the calmness in his mind which enables him to stay focussed. Therefore, the tactic of sledging is mostly adopted by the fielding side, in order to disrupt the composed mind of a batsman.
But sometimes these sledges or banter turn into ugly spats. Verbal duels, provocative actions, prolonged stares are part of this act. The very righteous, moral, gentleman’s game, at times, is adulterated by the players in the desperation of gaining an upper hand over the opposition.
While it may be an exciting event to watch for the fans, the players in the middle may not quite enjoy being in a non-cricketing quarrel. Indian Premier League, in its history of a dozen seasons, has seen its share of sledging. With a huge amount of money and reputation of each player and team riding on every game, altercations are bound to happen.
Here we bring you top three incidents of sledging in the cash-rich league:
<h3>1. Kieron Pollard-Mitchell Starc</h3>
<figure id="attachment_362320" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-362320" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-362320" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kieron-Pollard-and-Mitchell-Starc.jpg" alt="Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362320" class="wp-caption-text">Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps this is the ugliest on-field conflict involving a batsman and a bowler in the history of IPL. Two giants of their respective fields, Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard&#8211; standing at heights of 6’6” and 6’5” respectively&#8211; were up against each other. One, who is amongst the fiercest fast bowlers of any generation and another, who is known to dismantle any bowling attack with his lusty blows.
The scene for a dramatic stretch is set; IPL 2014, an electric <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/wankhede-stadium-to-not-turn-into-quarantine-centre-after-local-residents-complain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wankhede Stadium</a>, death overs, Starc against well-set pair of Pollard and Rohit Sharma. On the fourth ball of the 17th over, Starc bowls a bouncer which Pollard fails to connect with his hook shot. Like a typical Aussie fast bowler, Starc sends some verbal sledges towards Pollard. The West Indian doesn’t want to get into any altercation and motions the bowler with his hand to just go back on his bowling mark.
Moments later is when madness ensued. Starc runs in to bowl and as he is about to deliver, Pollard moves away from his batting crease. The speedster is distraught and despite Pollard moving away, he sends down the ball towards the batter anyway. The Trinidadian furiously throws his bat in Starc’s direction. Fortunately &#8211; for Starc &#8211; the bat slips out of Pollard’s hand and gets thumped on the ground.
The crowd goes into a frenzied state, Rohit tries to calm down the Pollard, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/first-of-all-you-shouldnt-bowl-to-him-ms-dhonis-hilarious-advise-to-shahbaz-nadeem-to-tackle-chris-gayle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Gayle</a> comes and has a chat with his compatriot, and the umpires rush towards him to pacify things down. In the strategic break, Virat Kohli has a heated dialogue exchange with the MI batsman. The battle remains even as Pollard scores a boundary of Starc but later the bowler runs him out. This is what happens when two behemoths of the cricketing world collide.

<h3>2. David Warner-Zaheer Khan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_430650" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-430650" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-430650" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/David-Warner-and-Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="David Warner and Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-430650" class="wp-caption-text">David Warner and Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: YouTube)</figcaption></figure>
David Warner’s nickname given to him by his Aussies teammates, ‘The Bull’, very aptly suited him before his one-year ban. He was always in an ultra-aggressive mode – while both batting and fielding – and ready to have a bout with the opposition. Apart from his brutal ball-striking ability, the left-hander is famous, or rather infamous, for his sledging incidents and an always ‘in-your-face’ competitive attitude.
Warner was involved in one such incident with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/3-players-which-mumbai-indians-mi-produced-for-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mumbai Indians</a>’ pacer Zaheer Khan. In the 2014 edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and so did Warner and Zaheer.
During the fourth ball of the 18th over, the Aussie took a single as the ball rolled over to the point fielder. In the course, Zaheer and Warner exchanged a few words. Warner made a shushing gesture by keeping his index finger on his mouth in a way to signal Zaheer to be quiet. Zak on his way glared back at Warner.
On the last ball of the over, the batsman could only manage another single. But this time both the players smiled at each other and eradicated the heated sentiments. The southpaw was dismissed in the next over, but not before scoring a 51-ball-65, including 4 mammoth sixes. Hyderabad won the game by 15 runs on the back of Warner’s half-century and some disciplined bowling by Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

<h3>3. Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir</h3>
<figure id="attachment_362321" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-362321" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-362321" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Gautam-Gambhir-and-Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-362321" class="wp-caption-text">Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
In IPL 2013, 30,000 fans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium along with the entire world saw a glimpse of naked aggression between two Indian colossi; one at the fag end of his career, and the other who is beginning to script his name in the record books. Gambhir and Kohli are well known for their unfiltered vocal disputes on the field with opposition cricketers.
On 11 April 2013, RCB were chasing a target of 155 against KKR. The match was tilting towards RCB as their skipper was taking on the Knight Riders’ bowlers. On the first delivery of the 10th over by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/which-mask-can-hide-the-virus-affecting-our-minds-lakshmipathy-balaji-opens-up-on-racial-discrimination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lakshmipathy Balaji</a>, looking for another boundary, Virat Kohli was caught by Eoin Morgan at the deep cover position.
The fielders converged towards Balaji to celebrate, including Gambhir who ran in from the point position in the circle. While Kohli started trudging back towards the dressing room, he heard some words from the KKR skipper, and with no delay replied with a few of his own. All eyes transferred from Morgan and went straight to the two Delhi lads who were charging at each other, not to shake hands, surely, but to have a severe go at one another.
Thankfully, as they were at some distance apart, Rajat Bhatia, the KKR all-rounder, intruded into their space and walled between them. The umpire Anil Chaudhary too quickly intervened to separate them. An infuriated Kohli hurled down some expletives – to Gautam or on the frustration of getting out, we can only assume – on his way to the dressing room. If not for some sanity among the players, we were about to witness an all Delhi Battle Royal; Kohli, Gambhir, Bhatia and even the umpire Anil Chaudhary, all hail from Delhi. Phew!

The tactic of sledging is mostly adopted by the fielding side, in order to disrupt the composed mind of a batsman.

Top 3 sledging incidents in the history of IPL

The tactic of sledging is mostly adopted by the fielding side, in order to disrupt the composed mind of a batsman. There have been many cases in the IPL.