Cricket is a passionate game where every player puts his heart and soul into every ball. Cricketers, like everyone else, get filled with anger and rage when the results don’t come as expected. Some of them eventually resort to both verbal and physical methods to vent their anger. Let’s take a look at the most aggressive cricketers.
Andrew Symonds
Australian star Andrew Symonds was one of those cricketers who could scare even a Baltimore Ravens linebacker named Ray Lewis. Symonds had a surprisingly short temper, which led to everything from brawls in pubs to criticism from his own teammates. His antics earned him a place among the top ten most aggressive cricketers in the world.
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly was the first Indian captain who adopted an aggressive approach. It was under him that India learned to never back down. During his reign, India started conquering foreign countries. They were competitors all over the world. Ganguly was called by his fellow players as ‘Dada’. He famously made Steve Waugh wait for the toss during his last frontier tour. His shirt-waving at Lord’s is an iconic moment in Indian cricket. India changed under the leadership of Ganguly. This change has now become permanent.
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar, sometimes known as the “Rawalpindi Express”, is the fastest bowler in cricket history. Akhtar was a competitive player who bowled at 150 km/h and looked terrifying, devastating. Akhtar’s playing career was marred by controversies and allegations of anti-sporting behaviour. For example, the Pakistani fast bowler was not a part of Australia’s 2005 Test match series due to an alleged bad attitude and a positive drug test.
Virat Kohli
Virat is probably the most aggressive cricketer at the moment. Indian captains have become more mature in recent times. His aggression is still visible from time to time. Virat insulted the Australian audience by raising his finger. His heated argument with Gautam Gambhir also made headlines. The latest news was that due to the interest of Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble has resigned from the post of coach.
Ricky Ponting
Ponting was instrumental in making the Australian team one of the most successful teams in the world. Looking at the stats and the number of matches he has played, it is easy to say that he is the most successful and experienced captain. Talking about his aggression, he is an aggressive type of player who takes risks and succeeds. Apart from captaincy, Ricky Ponting is one of the most dangerous right-handed batsman and a brilliant fielder.
Gautam Gambhir
During their IPL match in 2016, an angry Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli got into a heated exchange. This was an expression of their animosity, which often erupted during differences on and off the field. In 2017, he was suspended for four matches of first-class cricket for an argument with Delhi coach Bhaskar Pillai during the Vijay Hazard Trophy. Who can forget the match against Pakistan in 2007 when Gambhir had a heated exchange with Shahid Afridi? Later both were fined.
Curtly Ambrose
One of the best fast bowlers of all time, at 6 feet 7 inches tall Ambrose had an intimidating personality. A memorable incident took place in 1995, when the veteran fast bowler was throwing a meteorite at Australian legend Steve Waugh. It would have been much better if Waugh just focused on the game, but he didn’t and misbehaved with the bowler.
Harbhajan Singh
When discussing the most famous moments of cricket, the first incident that comes to mind is when Harbhajan Singh thrashed S Sreesanth on the field. The off-spinner made fun of Rick Ponting after taking his wicket and this was the first argument. At that time Harbhajan was only 17 years old. Bhajji’s biggest controversy is the “monkeygate issue” involving Andrew Symonds.
Ian Botham
The English cricketer and one of the best all-rounders of all time is well known for his outspoken nature and anger management issues. Whether it was fighting with the passengers on the plane or getting into scuffles with fellow cricketers, Botham managed to stay in the headlines during his era.
Javed Miandad
Usually, the smaller ones don’t seem as scary. But history shows us some notable exceptions. One such exception was Javed Miandad. His infamous jump on Kiran More is famous. A memorable incident occurred when Dennis Lillee intentionally stopped them which led to an exchange of choice words. Lily kicks at him in retaliation. Unfortunately, the person he kicked was a hot-tempered Miandad, who was just a foot away from smashing Lilly’s head. Fortunately the field umpire saved his life and no harm was done.
