Afridi and Gambhir indulging in bad-mouthing
Whenever we talk about India versus Pakistan cricket matches, altercations always seems to be the highlights of the match. It has become a trend that in high voltage matches spats and controversies are the casual outcomes and are often over-hyped by the media. Tiff between Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi is one of the overrated controversies on the web.
This controversy took place during the Pakistan’s tour of India in the 3rd One Day International match between India and Pakistan on 11th November, 2007 at Green Park Stadium, Kanpur. This controversy erupted when Gambhir smacked Afridi for a boundary after which the duo was seen indulging in bad-mouthing. Their lips movement clearly depicted that they were swearing each other. But it got ignited with the collision between the both in the middle of the pitch when Gambhir took a single to change ends. Due to collision, Gambhir furiously headed straight to Afridi to give him a piece of his mind as Gambhir thought that Afridi instigated him and resulted in face to face encounter which was then eased away by the umpire Ian Gould. Gambhir and Afridi were then asked to control their emotions by the umpire Ian Gould.
Umpire Ian Gould easing things off
Post match both the players were charged for breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct because of their on-field altercation and were penalized. The duo was charged under two counts:
- “Conduct unbecoming to their status which could bring them or the game of cricket into disrepute”
- “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play”
The match referee, Roshan Mahanama, fined the duo according to the seriousness of the matter Gambhir’s was fined 65% of his fee and Afridi’s fine was 95% of his match fee.
