5 Cricketers who disliked their teammates for various reasons

5. Adam Gilchrist & Shane Warne

It is unlikely for a guy like Adam Gilchrist to fall into a controversy. He was in fact, the most loved player of his time, particularly due to his sportsmanship. But his relations with Shane Warne were really bad which might come as a surprise to a lot of fans.

As far as Shane Warne is concerned, the dude never shied away from controversies, he rather thrived on it. He didn’t like the company of Adam Gilchrist since his debut, particularly because he was picked over a friend of the former leg-spinner. Warne mocked Adam Gilchrist in a domestic match, sarcastically calling him “Goody-two-shoes”.

Things went from bad to worse when Gilly was picked the vice-captain of the Australian cricket team by replacing Shane Warne. Now that both are retired, we see them commentating together, particularly on Fox Sports. There’s no doubt regarding the fact that there was a lot of bitterness involved between the two of them.

4. Shoaib Akhtar & Shahid Afridi

Pakistani cricket hasn’t had the most peaceful environment either. Most of their big names didn’t have much respect for the other teammates. It was kind of visible too when they showed no chemistry on the field, especially while fielding and dropping the easiest of catches.

Shoaib Akhtar was always the notorious boy of the Pakistan cricket team. He has himself told in a lot of interviews how he could have had a better career under someone like Imran Khan, who had retired by the time Rawalpindi express arrived the scenes. One of his issues that got highlighted was in World Cup 2011 with the then captain, Shahid Afridi.

Shoaib wanted to play the semifinals in that particular tournament which was against the hosts and arch-rival, India. He wasn’t having a great tournament and was already dropped from the previous two games. But in such a high-pressure game, they had to give him a look back in the team. They lost the game by 30 runs & the relationship between Shoaib & Shahid was bitter for a long time after that match.

3. Kevin Pietersen & Graeme Swann

Kevin Pietersen was undoubtedly a prodigy of English cricket. He had all the talent in the world to be the next big thing. KP went on to achieve big heights but his career was cut short unceremoniously.

He always had ego problems and didn’t sit quite well with a lot of cricketers. His work ethic wasn’t the best and a playboy image always surrounded him. Although he had a lot of issues with a lot of his teammates, his spat with Graeme Swann was the most highlighted one back in the early 2010s.

Swann has claimed that they openly disliked each other. They would try to ignore one another as much as possible. It is also believed that they knew they were both important from a team’s perspective and would try their best to not let the egos clash on the field.

2. Michael Clarke & Simon Katich

Australian team in their prime has dominated the world of cricket like no one else. They had a number of match-winners who turned up in pressure situations consistently. Michael Clake & Simon Katich were two of those players as well.

These two did not have any issues on the field like any other teammates. But there was a lot going behind the scenes. In fact, one such dressing room fight took place in 2009 after a match against South Africa.

Honestly, it was a silly fight over a small issue after they had actually won a match. The entire unit was supposed to sing the team song and Clarke had some issues which led to another. They kind of got physical and it is described as one of the ugliest stories in the Australian dressing room which surprised all the players present there, including the likes of Michael Hussey. Simon Katich also believed that Clarke was the reason why he didn’t get a contract when the latter captained the kangaroos.

1. Krunal Pandya & Deepak Hooda

This is one of the recent controversies that have surrounded Indian domestic cricket. Deepak Hooda was banned for the entire season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year. The reason touted to be a spat between the Baroda captain Krunal Pandya & Hooda.

According to Deepak, Krunal Pandya abused him in front of the Baroda teammates. The Punjab Kings middle order batsman claimed that he was practicing in the nets when Krunal started abusing him out of nowhere. Allegedly, Pandya warned Deepak that he wouldn’t let him play for Baroda in the times to come.

It was a shocking revelation that was condemned by former Baroda players, including Irfan Pathan. We don’t know who was the villain here but it did disturb the peace inside the Baroda cricket team. BCA was supposed to take some actions regarding the whole incident but nothing of substance took place on their behalf.