India vs Australia: A Test history of bad blood

Sport360 staff 12:42 09/03/2017
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  • The row between India captain Virat Kohli and Australia counterpart Steve Smith has quickly escalated, the fall-out from the second Test adding even greater spice to an intriguing Test series.

    But it is by no means the first example of heated exchanges between India and Australia and the series has created a rather unique rivalry over the years.

    Here, we look at four other examples when tempers have flared in the middle of an India vs Australia series.

    MELBOURNE 1981

    Sunil Gavaskar was ruled out lbw off the bowling of Dennis Lillee in the second innings but was furious with the decision, standing his ground before slapping his pads in anger.

    The India captain started to return to the pavilion but Lillee said something to Gavaskar causing the opener to march back to the crease and instruct batting partner Chetan Chauhan to walk off with him.

    The pair were met on the boundary by team manager Shahid Durrani and assistant Bapu Nadkarni who persuaded Chauhan to return to the field.

    Gavaskar later admitted regret over his actions which could have caused India to forfeit the match: “As India captain, I was not supposed to act in that manner. In no way can I justify my act of defiance.”

    ADELAIDE 1999

    Perhaps Sachin Tendulkar’s most controversial dismissal occurred at the Adelaide Oval as he engaged in a toe-to-toe battle with Glenn McGrath.

    Tendulkar had seen off six maidens from the fiery Aussie quick before a ball short of a length hit him on the shoulder as he ducked.

    However, umpire Daryl Harper ruled it lbw believing the ball would have struck the stumps had it carried. Tendulkar was mystified but accepted the decision. The rest of India erupted in fury.

    To this day, McGrath maintains it was out while Harper claims Gavaskar told him: “It would’ve been out LBW if the stumps were six inches taller.”

    MUMBAI 2001

    Michael Slater thought he had caught Rahul Dravid at square leg but it was given not out as the third umpire ruled the ball appeared to hit the turf.

    An angry Slater then approached umpire S Venkatraghavan before turning his ire on Dravid who had refused to walk and swore at the India batsman.

    Slater later apologised to Dravid at the end of the day’s play and got away with just a warning from ICC match referee Cammie Smith.

    SYDNEY 2008

    The nadir of Indo-Australian relations in a controversy forever known as, Monkeygate.

    Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds “a monkey” after the all-rounder confronted him for touching bowler Brett Lee.

    Harbhajan was banned for three matches for racial abuse but a BCCI appeal saw the sanction rescinded. Unfortunately for Symonds his Test career never really recovered as captain Ricky Ponting later claimed his team-mate felt he had been given a lack of support from Cricket Australia in challenging Harbhajan and the BCCI.

    Anil Kumble also complained about Australia’s conduct during the match claiming they were not acting in “the spirit of the game” over appeals for catches.

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