5 current cricketers known for their bad behaviour

Cricket has traditionally been referred to as the “gentleman’s game”, but today, the sport seems a long way away from living up to that. There has been a plethora of unedifying incidents that have taken place on the cricket field in recent times, and sledging is now unfortunately considered a part and parcel of the game. This has perhaps been the doing of the dominant Australian team of the late 1990s and 2000s, who justified incessant chirping with opposition players by citing it as "mental disintegration". Here are the 5 cricketers in the world currently who have a reputation for behaving notoriously:

#1 David Warner

When it comes to modern-day cricketers known for their bad behaviour, the name of David Warner immediately springs to mind. He is undoubtedly a phenomenal cricketer who has been successful across all 3 formats of the game, but, unfortunately, he is also known for his bad behaviour on and off the field.

He first stirred up trouble when he got into a tussle with 2 Aussie journalists on Twitter and was consequently slapped with a heavy fine. Then, what should’ve been a merry evening out with his teammates at a bar in Birmingham after a Champions Trophy encounter against England turned ugly when he punched England cricketer Joe Root, who was also in the same bar, on his chin, and his teammates had to step in to stop the fight.

He was reprimanded for his unruly behaviour by Cricket Australia and had to miss the remainder of the tournament. Worryingly, these are not one-off incidents either. They keep recurring with alarming regularity, the most recent being the dispute with Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, where Warner reacted more than the situation warranted when Rohit Sharma took a single off an overthrow which appeared to have ricocheted off his legs. This latest incident prompted former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe to call for umpires to give yellow and red cards to players who indulge in such bad behaviour, like in the case of football.

#2 Virat Kohli

India’s Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman of his generation. He has an unbelievable record in ODIs and his record in Tests is ever-improving. But the latest sensation from India is also known for his undue “aggression”, which has probably resulted in him crossing the line on occasions. It all started when he raised his middle finger to the crowd at the SCG in 2011. Although the crowd apparently abused his family, this was not something a professional should ever be doing.

This gesture got him criticism from the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Shane Warne. Whenever there has been an on-field incident in a match involving India in recent times, Kohli somehow always seems to be involved in it. This is where he should have taken a leaf out of skipper MS Dhoni.

Kohli has been involved in rows with his own teammates too, like with Shikar Dhawan in the recent Test series Down Under when Dhawan refused to come out to bat first up in the morning citing an injury. One more incident that comes to mind was the one with Gautam Gambhir in the IPL, where Kohli confronted his former India teammate face to face after getting out. While the 26-year-old is already one of the best players in the world currently, he will only be an even better player if he can learn to control his temper.

#3 Mitchell Johnson

The fact that Mitchell Johnson is an aggressive left-arm fast bowler of the highest quality is of absolutely no doubt to anyone. But the problem with Johnson is that he goes far beyond aggression on too many occasions for one's liking. Walking up to a batsman after literally every ball and commenting on his batting style among other things cannot be termed aggression.

This, however, is precisely what Johnson does match after match. He was seen making contact with Ben Stokes when the latter was harmlessly running between the wickets during the last Ashes series. He was cleared of any wrongdoing, even though he could have done more to avoid contact. A similar incident occurred previously when Johnson headbutted New Zealand’s Scott Styris in an ODI. Both of them pleaded guilty and were fined.

There's a very fine line between being aggressive and sledging, and the players will need to ensure that the line is not crossed at any given stage.

#4 Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard is another name that all of us can associate with bad behaviour. Whether he is batting, bowling or fielding, Pollard always enjoys a good contest on the field. The trademark stopping of his run without actually bowling during crucial junctures of a match gets to the nerves of every batsman. Pollard has regularly been in the news for notorious incidents on the field, the biggest of which was the incident with Mitchell Starc. It was an IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pollard played the ball back to Starc, and the latter threw the ball at Pollard in frustration.

The West Indian, in return, threw his bat at Starc, and though it missed the Australian pacer, the gesture was very unsportsmanlike. Both of them were fined and the likes of Allan Donald expressed their disappointment with Pollard.

He was also fined by Cricket Australia (CA) a couple of weeks ago once for hitting the pitch with the bat and leaving a mark on the pitch after getting out. Despite all this, though, his extraordinary six hitting ability and agility in the field makes him a crowd favourite wherever he plays.

#5 James Anderson

James Anderson is a crafty pace bowler who has a knack for making even the best batsmen in the world struggle with his swing bowling, giving him the undisputed status of being the leader of England's bowling attack. Unfortunately, however, he also seems to be leading the England outfit when it comes to sledging.

He has been guilty of indulging in unnecessary chatter with opposition players, the most recent example being the incident with Ravindra Jadeja during the 1st Test at Trent Bridge. The umpires had declared the lunch break, and the players had started walking back to the pavilion. Anderson, frustrated by Jadeja’s resistance, foul-mouthed him repeatedly and when Jadeja turned around to confront him, the Indian all-rounder was literally pushed away. However, luckily for Anderson, the incident was not caught on camera and he escaped.