Biggest controversies during India-Pakistan cricket matches: Miandad vs More to Gambhir vs Afridi
Every time India and Pakistan face off each other on the cricket field, it creates a virtually war-like situation in both the countries.
Neighbours India and Pakistan not just share boundaries, but an unparalleled passion for the game of cricket. The game was introduced to both the nations by the British - their former colonial masters and it grew over the years to become a religion. India and Pakistan, who got independence from the colonial rule in 1947, have remained hostile towards each other ever since and have even fought three wars. So, every time India and Pakistan face off each other on the cricket field, it creates a virtually war-like situation in both the countries. While fireworks, celebratory firing erupt following a victory, TV sets are broken after a loss.
Let's take a look at some of the controversial moments from India-Pakistan encounters, on the cricket field.
1986-87: Javed Miandad and Mohinder Amarnath
One of Pakistan's best-ever batsmen, Javed Miandad was also known for his patriotism. However, during Pakistan's tour of India in 1986-87, Miandad got a lesson or two in patriotism from Mohinder Amarnath, who gave him a piece of his mind for making comments against India. Miandad was agitated at Amarnath surviving a close appeal and went on to sledge him from silly-point. Miandad used an expletive to describe India and Amarnath heard it. Amarnath then calmly walked up to him and said: "Look Javed, call me anything you want but don't say a word against my country".
Miandad had later revealed in his autobiography that Amarnath's words left him embarrassed and he quickly apologised to him.
Cricket World Cup, 1992: Javed Miandad and Kiran More
India and Pakistan clashed for the first time in a World Cup encounter and the match, in all fairness, generated a huge sense of excitement across the world. Javed Miandad was batting at one end and the Indians were desperate to get him out and were appealing at every possible opportunity. After some time, Miandad got annoyed at Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More's excessive appeals from behind the stumps and complained to the umpire. However, that didn't stop More and the other Indian players from appealing. Frustrated and agitated over the incident, Miandad came up with one of his own tricks and made three hilarious leaps to imitate a high-spirited More.
Cricket World Cup, 1996: Aamir Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad
This incident between India pacer Venkatesh Prasad and Pakistan batsman Aamir Sohail is a part of cricketing folklore. During the quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup in Bangalore, Prasad's animated send-off to Sohail remains of the biggest memories from and India-Pakistan encounter. Pakistan were solid at 113/1 and Sohail looked certain to take the game away from India. After hitting a boundary off Prasad on the off-side, Sohail walked up to the Indian fast bowler and pointed to the boundary, showing him where he belonged. However, Prasad replied to Sohail in the best possible - by uprooting his stumps with a beauty in the next ball. Not just that, an animated Prasad then gave Sohail a send-off by pointing towards the stands.
1997 Sahara Cup, Toronto: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Indian fan
This is probably one of the most bizarre incidents that could ever happen on a cricket field. During a Sahara Cup game played in Toronto, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq crossed over to the spectators wing to fight an Indian fan. Inzamam was agitated when the fan in question made a comment on his weight and called him an "aaloo" or potato. Inzamam was furious and couldn't control his emotions. He then went to the stands with a bat in hand and was about to hit the Indian fan but was stopped by the security. Later on, Inzamam received a ban of two games for the incident.
1998 Independence Cup, Dhaka: Mohammad Azharuddin standing his ground
During the third-final of the Independence Cup played between India and Pakistan in Dhaka, India were in a winning position chasing an imposing target of 316, all thanks to a brilliant century by Sourav Ganguly. However, towards the end of India's chase, the umpires decided to stop the game due to bad light. All the members of the Pakistan team had left the ground along with the umpires. However, the then India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who was at the crease, refused to leave his ground till the Pakistan players were back on the field. Later, Hrishikesh Kantikar hit a boundary to win the game for India.
2007: Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi
In of the biggest on-field fights in an India-Pakistan encounter, Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi got into a nasty verbal altercation in Kanpur. During the third ODI of Pakistan's tour of India in 2007, Gambhir hit a boundary off Afridi and uttered a few words. In the same over, Gambhir collided with Afridi while taking a quick single. Following the collision, a fierce verbal duel broke out between Gambhir and Afridi and eventually the umpires had to intervene to separate the two. Afridi was fined 95 per cent of his match fee while Gambhir got away with 65 per cent.
2010 Asia Cup: Gautam Gambhir and Kamran Akmal
In the 2010 Asia Cup, Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal made an overzealous appeal for a catch when Gautam Gambhir was batting. The appeal was turned down and during the drinks break that followed, Gambhir and Akmal advanced towards each other and almost butted heads while exchanging glares. One of the umpires separated them and an amused MS Dhoni, who was the other batsman in the middle, quickly pulled Gambhir away to defuse the tension.
2010 Asia Cup: Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar
India needed seven runs to win off the last over against Pakistan, who posted 267 batting first. Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled the penultimate over, was trying to ensure that Harbhajan would not complete the win for India. While to unsettle Bhajji, Akhtar said some nasty words to him. However, Harbhajan kept his cool and hammered a huge six off the 5th ball to lead India to victory, leaving Akhtar surprised and disappointed.