5 instances when send-offs caught the eye of the world

Kohli gives Steven Smith a mouthfulEvery sport sees some form of ugliness in it. Cricket is not a stranger to this statment, as there have been plenty of untoward incidents even in cricket involving sledging, send-offs etc, which have enraged certain players and have been ignored by the others. Even though cricket is the main priority for the players and they play their hearts out, there are a few banters often, which infuriate the stars, and inturn affect certain stages of the game.However there have been a few send-offs that have taken the wrong route and have given the respective players a lot of criticism to deal with. Here are a few incidents that have received great attention from the viewers across the world.

#5 Venkatesh Prasad - Aamir Sohail

Aamir Sohail walks back after getting castled by Prasad

Aamir Sohail, one of the most prominent left-handers of his generation was a man who was known for his temper. One such occasion brought his downfall when Venkatesh Prasad, sent him packing in Bangalore during the 1996 World Cup quarter-final.

Aamir Sohail was going great guns while on 55. One on occasion, he casually skipped down and creamed the ball to the boundary. Looking at Prasad, he wagged a finger at him, insisting the bowler to ‘fetch that.’

Prasad cooly walked back. Continuing around the wicket, the next ball saw Sohail’s off-stump getting uprooted while attempting a xerox copy of the previous shot. Now Prasad takes a go at Aamir Sohail, pointing to the dressing room, and asking Sohail to go back home.

This wicket opened the coffin for Pakistan, as India romped home easily in the end by 39 runs, and the send-off was etched in the memories of the people forever.

#4 Mitchell Starc- Mitchell Santner

Starc waits for Santner to look up at him

Mitchell Starc, perhaps one of the best bowlers of the modern generation, has also been involved in landing some heavy send-offs to opposition batsman.

During a Test match against New Zealand, Starc had a few words to say to Mitchell Santner, who got bowled off his pads. After picking up Santner on 31, Starc made his way up to Santner and mumbled a few words onto Santner, who was standing there in utter dismay of losing his wicket.

Although the words Starc had said was not very clear, a few lip-readers confirmed that Starc seemed to pose a “What are you looking at c**t?” question to the debutant Santner.

#3 Brad Haddin - Martin Guptill

Haddin gives Guptill a send-off during the World Cup

During the ICC World Cup 2015, Brad Haddin, Australia’s wicket-keeper came under fire for giving a send-off to black caps opening batsman Martin Guptill. Although Haddin did not swing his arms or legs around, he mouthed off Guptill in a manner which surely enraged the opener.

He did not let the matter go, as he gave another send-off to Grant Elliot by mouthing some words to him.

The episode surely did not go in Haddin’s favour, and was highly criticised on all social media platforms.

#2 Marlon Samuels - Ben Stokes

Marlon Samuels (R), salutes Stokes off the pitch

During a Test match featuring England and West Indies, a little Caribbean flavour came onto the fore, as all-rounder Marlon Samuels gave England’s Ben Stokes a shocking send-off.

After losing his wicket, Ben Stokes was treated to some mind-blowing visuals, as Marlon Samuels stood groud, took off his hat while raising his arms to his forehead and gave his new-rival a send-off.

Although this generated a few laughs around amongst the cricketers and commentators, it undoubtedly generated some high levels of criticism amongst the social networking sites, and the rivalry between the two all-rounders was clearly seen throughout the Test series.

#1 Virat Kohli - Steven Smith

Caption

The send-off by Virat Kohli to Steve Smith after the latter lost his wicket during the 1st T20 of the tour down under will be one to go down in the memory books. After taking a catch to dismiss Steve Smith during the T20 in Adelaide which turned the match around, Kohli was involved in an animated send-off given to Smith, which was surely not appreciated by the dashing batsman, who quoted that Kohli 'get's very emotional at times.'

When questioned on his intentions, Kohli claimed that he mouthed Steve Smith off the field as the Australian had tried to sledge the young Hardik Pandya- who was making his India debut- by throwing a few words at him, which did not please Kohli. Kohli decided to take things onto himself, and after pouching the catch, screamed in frustration at Smith, who slowly walked back to the hut.

Although the episode did not impress many, there were several fans who took Kohli's side as well. After Kohli gave the reason for mouthing off Smith, the episode seems to have gone into the shadows.