Not only Dhoni and Sehwag rifts. Team India RIFT history

The rift between Dhoni and Sehwag isn’t a one-off instance. Indian cricket is flush with such episodes. Here are some….

Gavaskar/Kapil

Frustrated that Kapil Dev was wasting his natural talent as a batsman, Sunil Gavaskar went on record saying that the all-rounder wouldn’t score another half century in his career. The idea was to stoke Kapil’s ego, for all the cajoling and sweet-talking hadn’t worked. The media played up Gavaskar’s remarks. Kapil, naturally, was not pleased. The ploy paid off as a fired-up Kapil got a fifty in his very next innings.

Azhar/Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu walked out of the tour of England in 1996. The story goes that he was slighted by skipper Mohammad Azharuddin for his poor running between the wickets. The episode whipped up a storm. It was reported that the seniors and Sidhu’s roommate, Sourav Ganguly, urged him to stay back. Azhar, however, didn’t tone down and reportedly said, “No player is above the game. If they are not capable of learning, what can I do?”

Vengsarkar/Azhar

India’s 1989 tour of the West Indies was one of the worst in its cricket history. India were roundly drubbed both in the one-dayers and in the Tests. Mohammad Azharuddin and Dilip Vengsarkar had seemingly drifted from each other. Referring to the disaster, Vengsarkar had said, “If people are frightened of fast bowling, they should not play Test cricket.” On the face of it, the jibe was directed at Azhar who had a disastrous series.

Shastri/Azhar

In India’s 1992 tour Down Under, the Australian media had carried a libelous story on captain Mohammad Azharu ddin. As Azhar was confronting the journalist, Ravi Shastri put his arm around the Indian captain’s shoulder as if to stand by him. And the two never got along well throughout the tour.

Dravid/Ganguly

The two never looked each other in the eye during the Greg Chappell regime. It was held that skipper Rahul Dravid was never quite comfortable with Sourav Ganguly’s presence in the dressing room. The past came to the fore again when Ganguly recently said that Dravid didn’t have the guts to challenge Chappell.


Source DNA !