9 Most Notorious On-Field Fights In Cricket: Even in a sport considered to be relax and polite, players can lose their composure. In cricket, “the gentleman’s game,” over the years, competitors have been driven by either pride, pressure, or simply passion into memorable moments of drama.
9 On-Field Fights in Cricket History
1. Javed Miandad vs Dennis Lillee – Perth, 1981
One of the earliest and most well-known fights involving cricketers occurred when Pakistan toured Australia in 1981. Fast bowler Dennis Lillee deliberately obstructed Pakistani superstar Javed Miandad as he was running between the wickets and then kicked him. In response, Miandad threatened Lillee with his bat.
Teammates and umpires stepped in before matters could have gotten out of hand. Lillee was fined for “conduct unbecoming of a player” while Miandad was merely reprimanded. The picture of the two confronting each other still holds its place in cricket history.
2. Harbhajan Singh vs S. Sreesanth – IPL 2008
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People still talk about that wild clash from the very first IPL season. It turned into one of the biggest surprises in Indian cricket history. Right after a tense game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, cameras caught Sreesanth in tears on the field. He said Harbhajan Singh had slapped him pretty hard.
The whole mess sparked a huge storm in the media right away. Officials suspended Harbhajan for the rest of that tournament without much delay. Even if the two players sorted things out down the line, the moment laid bare how IPLs fierce energy often muddles up team bonds with raw anger.
3. Gautam Gambhir vs Virat Kohli – IPL 2013
People still remember that clash between two fiery Delhi guys in cricket. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli got into it during an IPL match back in 2013. It happened between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kohli got out, and then he started trading words with the KKR fielders. Gambhir came charging over pretty quickly. The two of them went at each other in a real heated argument. Rajat Bhatia had to step in and break it up eventually. They both ended up getting fined for breaking the IPL rules. This moment remains one of the league’s most replayed cricket confrontations.
4. Shane Warne vs Marlon Samuels – Melbourne, 2013
Things heated up during a Big Bash League game. It involved the West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels and the Australian legend Shane Warne. Tensions really boiled over between them on the field.
After some kind of confrontation happened, Warne threw the ball right at Samuels. Samuels fired back by tossing his bat toward Warne. Officials fined both players for what went down. Still, that clash stands out as one of the biggest talked-about fights in recent cricket.
5. Aamir Sohail vs Venkatesh Prasad – 1996 World Cup, Bengaluru
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This encounter is recalled not for brutality but for raw competitive passion. When Aamir Sohail hit a boundary off Venkatesh Prasad, he insulted the bowler by gesturing towards the fence. Prasad hit back with the ultimate retort getting Sohail out on the very next ball. His aggressive dismissal became one of the defining images of the 1996 World Cup and one of the greatest cricket rivalries of all time.
6. Quinton de Kock vs David Warner – Durban, 2018
The 2018 Australia–South Africa Test series was tense. The greatest flashpoint occurred when CCTV cameras picked up David Warner being held back by teammates in a stadium tunnel following an heated altercation with Quinton de Kock.
News stated the incident was a reaction to a personal comment. The video went viral and represented the intense animosity that would eventually lead to the Sandpapergate saga.
7. Kagiso Rabada vs Joe Root – Port Elizabeth, 2020
South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has a reputation for aggression, but in 2020 he went too far when he sent Joe Root off and yelled in his face.
The ICC provided Rabada with a demerit point and a one-Test ban. The incident reopened arguments around aggression vs discipline, particularly for hot-headed fast bowlers. It is a contemporary illustration of in-game emotional altercations in cricket.
8. Inzamam-ul-Haq vs Fan with a Megaphone – Toronto, 1997
Not every on-pitch brawl is between players on the same team. During the 1997 Sahara Cup in Canada, Inzamam-ul-Haq lost his temper after a fan continually taunted him with a megaphone, calling him “Aloo” (potato).
Inzamam picked up a bat and tried to go to the troublemaker before being held back by teammates and security. He was banned for two matches, and the incident continues one of the most bizarre and notorious moments in cricketing history.
9. Ben Stokes vs Kemar Roach and Marlon Samuels – Grenada, 2015
England’s aggressive all-rounder Ben Stokes had a war with Kemar Roach and Marlon Samuels in the 2015 Grenada Test. Things heated up in a big argument between them. Right after that, Samuels threw a salute at Stokes when he got dismissed.
It all stirred up their rivalry that had been going on for a long time. They kept holding that grudge against each other for years. They even dragged it onto social media. All this happened despite England winning the 2019 World Cup.
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