Cricket is a game of passion where a player dedicates his heart and soul in every ball and when results don’t go as expected, cricketers like other humans erupt with anger and frustration. Some of them end up using verbal and physical outlets to express that anger which may be taken as offensive in the spirit of the sport.
Being aggressive and being angry are two very different things. A player can have aggressive at all times in order to derive certain results. It is just a mindset or in easier terms a style of play. There has been a long list of aggressive cricketers doing passionate things for their teams and being criticized or appreciated at times.
Following is an All-Time XI of the Most Aggressive Cricketers:
Andrew Symonds
Gautam Gambhir
Sourav Ganguly
Virat Kohli
Kieron Pollard
Kamran Akmal
Shahid Afridi
Harbhajan Singh
S. Sreesanth
Kagiso Rabada
Curtly Ambrose
1) Andrew Symonds-
This Australian cricketer has been played in a couple of movies to show the kind of aggression he propagated all around. However, his ability to score consistently always covered for the angry moments on the field.
Symonds was a fine statue of controversies; first being dropped by the team because of his alcohol consumption before matches and then the famous ‘Monkeygate scandal’. Him missing the team meetings and abusing other players was a common sight. Andrew Symonds lost his place from the squad for the same reasons.
2) Gautam Gambhir-
An annoyed Gautam Gambhir entered into a heated discussion with Virat Kohli during their IPL tie in 2016. This was just a side of his aggression which regularly boiled up after arguments on and off-field. His debate with Delhi coach Bhaskar Pillai during the Vijay Hazard trophy in 2017, handed him a four-match suspension from first-class cricket.
Who forgets the 2007 match against Pakistan, when Gambhir indulged into a big fight with Shahid Afridi. They were both fined later.
3) Sourav Ganguly-
Dada made big headlines after he took his shirt off at the Lord’s. The Indian team had started celebrating their victory over England in the NatWest trophy finals, but Sourav had his own way to enjoy that moment.
The left-handed batsman had his own way to silence the opponent bowlers. Stuart Broad will never forget the consequences of sledging Dada. His other moments include going after Russel Arnold and miff with Pakistan batsman Yousuf Youhana.
4) Virat Kohli–
Virat is arguably the most aggressive player in the current cricket scenario. The Indian captain has matured off lately but the aggression comes out in one way or the other. Virat was involved in a controversy cum incident when he showed a finger and abused the Australian audience.
His fiery argument with Gautam Gambhir also made headlines. The latest being the reports that Virat Kohli’s interest led Anil Kumble to resign from the coach’s post.
5) Kieron Pollard–
When it comes to Pollard nobody can ever forget his bat throwing incident in 2014. He almost threw that bat at Australia’s Mitchell Starc during an IPL match.
The other two incidents are Pollard taping his lips when the umpire asked him not to distract Chris Gayle in 2015 and his argument with Sanjay Manjerekar over a tweet.
6) Kamran Akmal-
Kamran’s controversies have blown into the political level when in 2012 he blamed Ishant Sharma of abusing him on the field. The former Pakistani wicketkeeper also had a heated discussion with Gautam Gambhir in 2010.
Kamran Akmal’s latest controversy erupted when he blamed Pakistan’s captain and coach to be biased.
7) Shahid Afridi-
The BOOM BOOM man has played a part in more than a few controversies. In 2016, Afridi’s comment that Pakistan had no talent, created a huge outburst in the nation. His recent tussle with Gautam Gambhir over certain things mentioned in his autobiography saw a verbal battle among the two. The Pakistani leg-spinner also said that “Indians are not as large-hearted as us.”
Afridi also engaged in an ugly spat with teammate Javed Miniad.
8) Harbhajan Singh-
When one talks about cricket’s most furious moments, one of the first things that come to our minds in the incident when Harbhajan Singh slapped S.Sreesanth on the field. The off-spinner first entered into an argument when he teased Rick Ponting after claiming his wicket. Harbhajan was only 17 then.
The biggest of the controversies Bhajji has been involved in is the ‘Monkeygate scandal’ with Andrew Symonds.
9) S.Sreesanth –
Shanthakumaram Sreesanth has a history of entering into altercations with cricket greats like Harbhajan Singh, Ricky Ponting, Andre Nel, Andrew Symonds and many more.
The start of his career was marked by a fiery celebration of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket in a domestic game. The end was marked by him indulging in a match-fixing scandal.
10) Kagiso Rabada-
This South African pacer’s name is a newer addition in this list. His aggressive bowling has kept all batsmen under check. Rabada was seen fierce during a heated exchange with teammate De Kock during a test match in India.
Rabada also waved towards Dhawan and pointed out at the direction of the pavilion after claiming the latter’s wicket. His comment on Virat Kohli as immature sparked debates.
11) Curtly Ambrose-
The West Indies fast bowler dominated throughout his career. His speed troubled the best batsmen. However, in an interview (2015), Ambrose admitted that he wanted to knock Steve Waugh 29 years ago.
The famous incident when Dean Jones asked Curtly to remove his wrist band and faced all the sharp deliveries in the world, shows how aggressive this tall man was. Ambrose admitted that his stare was enough to unsettle the batsmen.