New Delhi: Fast bowlers are said to be the most aggressive players when it comes to expressing their emotions on the cricket field. Recently, India's fast bowling spearhead Ishant Sharma came under a lot of criticism after he got involved in a tussle with Sri Lankan cricketers particularly against Dhammika Prasad.
However, when it comes to fast bowlers expressing thier displeasure when things do not go thier way, none would come near to Caribbean bowling legend Michael Holding.
A match against New Zealand saw the height of Holding's anger. The trouble started early in New Zealand's second innings at Dunedin in 1980 when Holding felt he had John Parker caught behind by wicketkeeper Deryck Murray, but umpire John Hastie disagreed.
Holding got terribly angry, then walked down to the striker's end kicked two of the stumps out of the ground.
In comparison to that, Ishant's aggression was only verbal. Ishant had an argument with Sri Lankan pacer and his teammate Dinesh Chandimal after Prasad bowled a barrage of short-pitched deliveries and the Delhi speedster returned the favour with a hostile spell at the end of the fourth day to get rid of Upul Tharanga and Chandimal.
The critics may criticise Ishant for his act but India's Test skipper Virat Kohli who is also known for his aggressive style of cricket backed his main bowler.
Virat said “An angry fast bowler is a captain's delight. I was really happy to see what happened yesterday and it switched some things on in the right ways. It had to be controlled but in the end it benefitted us,” said Kohli.
Watch Michael Holding rooting up stumps with his feet:
