Indian Premier League (IPL) is known for its thrilling matches and entertainment. Sometimes the league becomes more spicy when players engage in intense clashes and word exchange. IPL has witnessed every form of intense altercation on the pitch, from verbal altercations to craziest acts. Let us look at the top 5 ugliest fights that happened in IPL history.
Virat Kohli’s vs Naveen ul haq/ Gautam Gambhir (2023)
In last year’s IPL, Virat Kohli, Naveen ul Haq, and Gautam Gambhir were involved in an ugly fight in a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). It started with a verbal exchange between Virat and Naveen which went after the post-match presentation.
After winning the match, Virat had another brief exchange of words with Naveen as the Afghanistan pacer allegedly shoved off Kohli’s hand during the handshake.
S Sreesanth vs Harbhajan Singh (IPL 2008)
Sreesanth and Harbhajan both would want to remove this incident from their memories. The incident took place in the inaugural season of IPL in 2008 when two of India’s most aggressive players were involved in an altercation. It happened when Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) won over MI. According to reports, Sreesanth was poking Harbhajan and out of frustration the Indian spinner slapped Sreesanth.
Gautam Gambhir vs Virat Kohli (IPL 2013)
Virat and Gautam were involved in one more clash in the IPL 2013. It was during RCB’s chase with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). KKR was jubilated after removing the RCB skipper. Before walking back to the dressing room, Virat had spat a fight with words with KKR skipper- Gautam Gambhir.
Mitchell Starc vs Kieron Pollard (2014)
Kieron is known for his notorious acts on the field. But this time the Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder’s mind game did not go well with him in the match against RCB. When Starc was steaming into the ball, Pollard at the very last moment decided not to play the delivery and stepped aside. Starc did not like the behaviors that Pollard frequently does and therefore continued to deliver the ball. In an impulsive reaction, Pollard threw his bat in Starc’s direction but luckily it felt only in front of him.
Nitish Rana vs Hrithik Shokeen (2023)
In the IPL 2023, the rivalry between Nitish Rana and Hrithik Shakeen came to the forefront. Mumbai Indians’ Hrithik and Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Nitish engaged in a verbal sparring match in the first innings. After dismissing the KKR captain, the Mumbai Indians bowler gave Rana an angry reprimand in the ninth over of their encounter at Wankhede Stadium. The skipper paused in his steps and turned to yell back at the bowler. Piyush Chawla and Suryakumar Yadav intervened to defuse the situation.
