The first Test at Lord's is being played against the shadow of the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja spat. According to Indians, the England fast bowler physically abused Jadeja, which was bad enough for them to register an official complaint. As for the English camp, they have maintained that a mountain is being made out of a molehill. Whatever the case, the fact is that the issue has spiralled into a major controversy. As India and England trade charges, we look at some ugly spats in cricket over the years.
Harbhajan Singh vs Andrew Symonds: No Indian or Australian can ever forget this. Symonds and Harbhajan both are fiery characters and when they clashed there were bound to be sparks. The Indians were extremely frustrated during the controversial Sydney Test of 2008. Symonds was clearly out on more than one occasion, but the umpire just refused to raise his finger. For some reason, India felt aggrieved that Symonds refused to walk though he didn't need to. Harbhajan lost his patience, and started taking digs at Symonds, who alleged that the Indian bowler referred to him as 'monkey'. The case was a high profile one, and after initially being punished, Harbhajan was later exonerated. As for Symonds, he couldn't pick himself up again.
Steve Waugh vs Curtly Ambrose: This is another famous instance. The match being referred to is the 1995 Test at Trinidad. Ambrose was bowling a fine spell and beating the edge of clueless Waugh time and again. Every time this happened, Ambrose stared at Waugh, which was a trademark of sorts. Waugh played with fire by asking him -- What the f***k are you starting at? Ambrose warned him not to use cuss words. Not one to budge, Waugh carried on. Ambrose couldn't take it anymore, and charged towards Waugh, in an apparent intention to beat him up. Had Windies skipper Richie Richardson not intervened, wonder what would have transpired.
Michael Slater vs Rahul Dravid: During the course of the 2001 Test between India and Australia at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Dravid mistimed a pull, and Slater lunged forward to take a catch. The Aussie fielder claimed the catch, but it was too close to call, and hence Dravid decided to stay put. The on-field umpire decided to take the matters upstairs, and the third umpire gave Dravid not out. An enraged Slater started arguing with Dravid as well as the umpires vehemently. It did not make for a good scene at all. Some years later, Slater admitted his reaction was over the top, and that his off-field life had impacted him severely.
Javed Miandad vs Dennis Lillee: Two of the biggest legends of the game almost came to blows during the Perth Test in 1981. During the course of his innings, Miandad turned one ball round the corner, and set off for a routine single. As things turned out, it would be remembered as one of the most controversial singles in Test history. As he was completing the run, Miandad collided with Lillee, this lead to a heated argument between the two. The image of Miandad raising his bat in the direction of Lillee became the defining image of the Perth Test. While Miandad alleges Lillee purposely blocked him, the latter claims, the Pakistani abused him first.
--By A Cricket Analyst
