Today we discuss the biggest fights in IPL history and how they unfolded on field. Read on…
They say Cricket is a gentleman’s game. It’s said so because usually, the cricketers play in the right spirit of sports.
The tradition has continued from the past but has also evolved over the years.
Cricket is a gentleman’s game even today. But it’s not the entire truth.
The players would often be involved in verbal banter or they say seldges to make the opposition players a bit nervous and make them lose focus.
Indian Premier League (IPL) has the reputation of being the grandest T20 league in the cricket world.
It involves money, huge viewership, high broadcasting rights, which makes it one of the richest sporting tournaments.
Verbal banter or sledging isn’t uncommon in the tournament.
There have been many examples of players involved in sledging the players or arguing with umpires. This list tells about ten such events that have happened in the IPL.
The Top 10 Biggest Fights in IPL History
Here’s our pick for the top 10 biggest fights in IPL history:
| Rank | IPL Fights |
| 10 | Dwayne Bravo vs Kieron Pollard |
| 9 | MS Dhoni argues with umpires |
| 8 | Kieron Pollard argues with umpires |
| 7 | Kieron Pollard vs Shane Watson |
| 6 | Sourav Ganguly vs Shane Warne |
| 5 | Munaf Patel vs Amit Mishra |
| 4 | Harbhajan Singh vs Ambati Rayudu |
| 3 | Harbhajan Singh vs Sreesanth |
| 2 | Kieron Pollard vs Mitchell Starc |
| 1 | Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir |
10. Kieron Pollard vs Dwayne Bravo
Kicking off our list of the biggest fights in IPL history is the one between the caribbean brothers.
It happened in the fifth edition of the IPL in the year 2012. It was the eliminator match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Chennai Super Kings were invited to bat first by Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super Kings posted a mammoth total of 187 on the board.
Mumbai Indians in their run chase collapsed, succumbing to the pressure of a big run chase and the knockout game. They were down to 129/7 with 59 runs needed in 13 balls.
Dwayne Bravo was bowling the 18th over and Kieron Pollard was the man on strike. Bravo would bowl a bouncer.
Pollard tried to clear the fence, but he mistimed it as the ball went to the long-on region where Suresh Raina took the catch comfortably.
Bravo was a happy man and decided to have some fun with the batsman being dismissed. He gave a sendoff to Pollard indicating that their campaign was over and better to take the flight home.
Though Pollard didn’t react to the celebration, the sendoff didn’t go well among the fanatics of cricket and that of Mumbai Indians.
It was kind of a funny IPL fight, yet it became popular as it involved two of the greatest T20 superstars.
9. MS Dhoni argues with umpires
It happened in the 12th edition of the IPL in the year 2019. It was the 25th match of the season between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Chennai Super Kings bowled well and restricted Rajasthan Royals to a total of 151. The sub-par total seemed big for Chennai Super Kings as they were down to 24/4 in no time. The match further went down to 18 in the last over.
Ms Dhoni who was well set on 58, was dismissed as the equation came down to 8 from 3. And then Ben Stokes would bowl a beamer to Mitchell Santner (the new man on strike). Mitchell Santner would eventually fetch two runs for that.
But the beamer created controversy. Generally, the leg-umpire would be the one to make the call on waist-high no balls. But the main umpire signalled no ball in this case while the leg-umpire didn’t. So this created confusion among all.
MS Dhoni would come out of the dugout, infuriated, and question the decision of the umpire. It wasn’t ideal for a captain to do that. The fact that the captain of a side was involved in such an act didn’t go well with a certain section of cricket fanatics.
8. Kieron Pollard argues with umpires
It happened in the 12th edition of the IPL in the year 2019. It was the 16th match of the season between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had won the toss and opted to bowl first.Mumbai Indians posted a mammoth total of 209 runs on the board.
Royal Challengers Bangalore got a slow start during the run chase. Kieron Pollard tried to get into the skin of Chris Gayle, who wasn’t getting into his groove, by having some words.
Meanwhile, Kieron Pollard got a warning from the umpire as to not disturb the batsman. Pollard wasn’t greatly pleased by that.
And after some overs, in an act of giving a cheeky reply, he taped his mouth and gave an indirect message to the umpire.
It wasn’t a great thing to do on the cricket field. Umpire was right in warning Pollard not to repeat the act.
But Pollard didn’t display the greatest spirit of sportsmanship. Certainly, it’s one of the ugliest moments on a cricket field.
7. Kieron Pollard vs Shane Watson
It happened in the 7th edition of the IPL in the year 2013. It was the 66th match of the season between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Rajasthan Royals had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Mumbai Indians posted a total of 166 in their 20 overs. In reply, Rajasthan Royals were reduced to 22/2, when Shane Watson arrived at the crease. It further got reduced to 28/4 and Rajasthan Royals were in trouble.
And then Pollard said something to Watson, which wasn’t too good. Watson would complain the same to the umpire, but Pollard would keep laughing.
The umpire would ask Rohit Sharma, the captain of Mumbai, to warn Pollard.
Watson would later be dismissed in the 10th over. Pollard, who took his catch, would give him a sendoff with over-exuberant celebrations.
The story wouldn’t just end there! Even after Watson reached his dugout, Pollard had some words with Watson.
It wasn’t good at all. Rahul Dravid, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, then guided Shane Watson to move into the dressing room. It’s one of the ugliest exchanges of words in the history of IPL.
6. Sourav Ganguly vs Shane Warne
It happened in the first edition of the IPL in the year 2008. It was the 18th match of the season between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals had won the toss and opted to bat first.
Rajasthan Royals posted a mammoth total of 196 in their 20 overs. Kolkata Knight riders, in reply, were alive in the game till their captain, Sourav Ganguly, was at the crease having scored a fifty.
A well set Ganguly would be dismissed by his opposition captain Shane Warne. The fielder took the catch but Warne denied it and asked the umpire to prove whether it was taken properly or not.
The camera angles didn’t produce conclusive evidence to show that the catch was taken properly. This led to the clash between the two captains. Eventually, Sourav Ganguly was given out and Rajasthan Royals players gave him a sendoff.
Warne later in the post-match conference said that Ganguly should’ve accepted the decision of the on-field umpire, rather than arguing. Both the players were then fined 10% of match fees.
5. Munaf Patel vs Amit Mishra
It happened in the fourth edition of the IPL in the year 2011. It was the 59th match of the season between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Deccan Chargers had won the toss and opted to bat first.
Deccan Chargers found themselves at 105/6 in 18 overs on a not so great batting pitch. In came Amit Mishra with some intent. Amit Mishra hit two consecutive boundaries off Munaf Patel.
The bowler tried to get him out but in vain. It kind of angered the bowler more. The anger turned out in a fight between the two players. The IPL fight became intense and they started to have verbal and physical abuses on each other. The umpires had to step in to stop the fight between the two.
Eventually, Amit Mishra scored 18 crucial runs in just 6 balls and also claimed a wicket as Deccan Chargers won the game. It remains one of the ugliest IPL fights between two players in the history of IPL.
4. Harbhajan Singh vs Ambati Rayudu
It happened in the 9th edition of the IPL in the year 2016. It was the 29th match of the season between Rising Pune Supergiant and Mumbai Indians at MCA Stadium, Pune. Mumbai Indians had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Rising Pune Supergiant was going well comfortably with 96/2 in 10.2 overs at one stage. That’s when Harbhajan Singh was bowling to Saurabh Tiwary, who was on strike. The ball went to the deep mid wicket region where Ambati Rayudu was fielding.
Ambati Rayudu fumbled as the ball went past the boundary ropes. Harbhajan Singh was furious with a not so great effort from Ambati Rayudu. He had some words of anger.
Ambati Rayudu was furious at his teammate. Both the players faced off each other. Harbhajan Singh then tried to clear the air and apologised.
But Rayudu wasn’t too happy about the incident and didn’t accept the apology. This one was rather different as it happened between the players of the same team.
3. Harbhajan Singh vs Sreesanth
It happened in the first edition of the IPL in the year 2008. It was the 10th match of the season between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians at Mohali Cricket Stadium.
Mumbai Indians had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Kings XI Punjab posted a mammoth total of 182 in their 20 overs. Mumbai Indians were never in the game as they succumbed to the pressure of a big run chase and lost the game by a huge margin of 66 runs.
Sreesanth, one of the bowlers of the Punjab side, mocked Harbhajan Singh as Mumbai Indians lost the game.
Harbhajan Singh was already infuriated with a humiliating loss. Sreesanth irked him so much that Harbhajan slapped him.
The footage of the event didn’t go viral. But Sreesanth’s crying face went viral. Harbhajan Singh was banned from the remainder of the season.
It was later revealed that both the players had sorted out the issue by asking for apologies.
2. Kieron Pollard vs Mitchell Starc
It happened in the 7th edition of the IPL in the year 2014. It was the 27th match of the season between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Royal Challengers Bangalore had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Mumbai Indians were in a decent position as they had scored 133/4 at one stage. That’s when Mitchell Starc was asked to bowl. He steamed in and bowled a bouncer to Kieron Pollard.
Stars then had some words with Pollard, to which Pollard signalled to return and bowl. Mitchell Starc then steamed in and Pollard backed off. But Starc continued to bowl which threatened to damage Pollard.
The angered Pollard then threw the bat towards Mitchell Starc. It was a huge moment in the match as both the players were high in motion. The umpires, Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle had to intervene to cool things down.
1. Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir
This one surely occupies the first place. It happened in the 6th edition of the IPL in the year 2013.
It was the 12th match of the season between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Royal Challengers Bangalore had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Mumbai Indians posted a total of 154 runs on the board. Royal Challengers Bangalore got a slow start during the run chase. It was also in Virat Kohli’s early stages as a captain. But he had to deliver with the bat.
He was looking good as he had scored 35 runs in 26 balls. Against a run of play, he would give away his wicket.
He was disappointed. But he suddenly became angry as he saw some words being thrown towards him by the opposition.
He then confronted them. The opposition captain Gautam Gambhir would face the angry Virat and have some words with him.
The exchange was so ugly, especially because it involved captains of both teams.
Rajat Bhatia then tried to end the fight between the two captains and was eventually successful.
They breached the level 1 code of violence and were fined 10% of the match fees each.
Read More:
- 10 Best Fast Bowlers of All Time
- Top 10 Slowest Fifties in IPL History
- The 15 Biggest Cricket Controversies of All Time
- The 10 Best Bowlers of All Time
- The 10 Best Batsmen of All Time
- Top 10 Richest Cricketers in India in 2021
- Top 10 Richest Cricketers In The World 2021
- The 15 Best Leg Spinners of All Time
- Top 10 Cricketers in the World of all Time
- The 15 Best IPL Matches of all Time – and Where to Watch them!
- The Top 20 Best Fielders in the World of Cricket
- The 10 Best Spinners of All Time in Cricket
- The Top 10 Most Successful Cricket Captains of all Time!
Conclusion
So these were some of the best and biggest fights in IPL history. These were some of the moments that were ugly to watch or were too controversial.
Some more events like Virat Kohli’s sendoff to Ravichandran Ashwin in the 2019 IPL and Kieron Pollard’s cheeky reply to a wide not signalled by the umpire in the 2019 IPL finals also fall in the same category.
Do you agree with our list? Which IPL fight you think should be included in the list of thhe biggest fights in IPL history? Do let us know by tweeting us at @weknowcricket. Cheers!
{
I recently tried CBD gummies for the opening heyday and I forced to https://www.cornbreadhemp.com/collections/full-spectrum-cbd-oil demand, I’m impressed with the results. I felt more happy-go-lucky and at affluence, and my dread was significantly reduced. The gummies tasted cardinal and were tranquil to consume. I’ll unquestionably be using them again and would propose them to anyone looking for a logical way to alleviate accentuate and anxiety.
The point of view of your article has taught me a lot, and I already know how to improve the paper on gate.oi, thank you. https://www.gate.io/ja/signup/XwNAU