On-field blow-ups happen quite often on a cricket field. At times, verbal banters within boundaries add flavor to a cricketing contest. Something similar had happened during the first T20I between India and Pakistan series back in December 2012 when Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batter Kamran Akmal and the Indian fast bowler, Ishant Sharma got involved in an on-field verbal duel.
The incident took place in the 18th over of Pakistan’s innings. Ishant picked the wicket of Mohammed Hafeez (61 off 43 balls) off the first ball itself. Akmal came to bat soon after Pakistan lost its fourth wicket. While a couple of balls remained in Ishant’s over, the situation went out of hand. The pacer and batter were seen standing inches apart and talking to each other. However, Suresh Raina and the umpires came in and sorted out the issue.
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Akmal recently opened up on the on-field verbal banter during the match against India in Bengaluru in December 2012. The 41-year-old cricketer said that Ishant Sharma was the one who hurled invectively and then got it back. However, he mentioned that India skipper MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina solved the problem at hand.
As quoted by cricket pundit Farid Khan, Kamran Akmal said: “Ishant Sharma did hurl abuse, he got all the abuses back too. MS Dhoni was really nice and Suresh Raina came, and settled it down. India were losing and it happened in the heat of the moment. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez were playing very well, so he was furious.”
Talking about the match, Pakistan won by five wickets with two balls remaining. It was Pakistan’s first bilateral tour of India in five years. The match between the arch-rivals involves a lot of drama, fightbacks, and flare-ups.
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However, it did not end on a positive note as both the cricketers were charged with ‘conduct contrary to the spirit to the game’. They pleaded guilty to their unfair action on the field and the Pakistan keeper was fined 5% of his match fee. Ishant, on the other hand, was fined 15% of his fee, as he had instigated the conflict.
