IPL becoming a bridge in a journey from foes to friends

Apart from giving the limelight to the Talent, one more thing that this platform has provided is, witnessing gusty rivalry into friendship.

When different teams clash against each other at International or in any other league, we often see moments of heat exchange between players. Such moments have aroused on and off-field, leading to nasty controversies. In earlier days of cricket, we used to see a lot of sledging on-field in international cricket, adding fierce competition among players. There have been many unforgettable sledging moments between India and Australia. The game in those times used to become all about bouncers, sledging and mischief. All this was believed to be a healthy part of the game as long as it was not personal.

When the Indian Premier League emerged as a platform where players from different countries, states, counties, etc., might play together in unity for a single team, we witnessed a change in the trend of rivalries. It can be called a coincidence, but somehow, the tournament brought the biggest rivals to play in support of each other. Let's take a trip down from recent to oldest rivalries turning into friendship on the ground, where players sidelined their ego and played for 'the team'-

Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya

In 2021, during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament, Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya were involved in an ugly spat where the former claimed Krunal Pandya stopped him from practicing. The fight rocked their Indian domestic cricket team. Things got worse as Deepak Hooda pulled out of the Baroda squad, alleging Krunal Pandya to be abusive towards him in front of the whole team. In response, Krunal wanted to keep everything private and didn't open up in public.

In mega-auctions of IPL, Lucknow Super Giants bought Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda for INR 8.25 crore and INR 5.75 crore, respectively; it shocked their fans how they both would carry on for the same team with a strained past. However, in the clash with Gujarat Titans, fans witnessed a pleasing sight where they both hugged each other burying the hatchet. Krunal hugged Hooda for taking a catch, which later became a meme festival for fans.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler

In IPL 2019, during Punjab vs Rajasthan, Ravichandran Ashwin' Mankad(ed)' Jos Buttler. This act of Ashwin became international headlines, inviting a lot of controversy on Mankad from legends and fans, giving birth to a new rivalry. 

And now, in IPL 2022, these two rivals are representing the same team, the Rajasthan Royals. While the franchise retained Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin was one of their many hot picks. As soon as the bid was over, fans were awestruck by the franchise's decision. Both of them shared a friendly video on social media post auctions and looked comfortable in their first match.

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow

Their rivalry is the product of one of the most talked-about clashes between two countries, England and Australia, via Ashes. Ashes are one of the ruthless contests between the two nations, involving sledging and the constant exchange of heated words. 

The traditional rivals became the talk of the town when Sunrisers Hyderabad bagged both the players in auctions to play for a common team. Keeping individual ego aside, the duo became one of the strongest opening pairs any franchise had. They even had a record-breaking opening partnership of 185 runs against RCB in 2019. If not made them friends, IPL at least succeeded in pausing their international game enmity.

Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds

The duo's rivalry from the infamous 'Monkeygate' incident in 2008 is not unknown to anyone in the cricket world. At that time, the incident became one of the most significant on-field controversies to hit the cricketing world. This incident happened during India's tour to Australia, where it appeared to be a normal exchange of words between both the players; it was later that Australia launched a complaint against Harbhajan with the umpire. Umpire warned Harbhajan Singh for allegedly hurling racist comments by calling him 'monkey' to Andrew Symonds, which he cleared were not the same words as understood. The incident was so intense that it followed one Test match ban for the Indian spinner.

The spinner on the show Backstage with Boria revealed that "The things that were said to me (while being) on the ground, 'you have testicles on your head', to hear such an insult towards my religion was the most difficult thing for me. I didn't open my mouth then because it would have resulted in more controversies".

Despite all this, Mumbai Indians in 2011 pulled the impossible by making these two play under the same umbrella. It is believed that Sachin Tendulkar played a pivotal role in making their relations work on-field, which they were able to later convert into an amicable bond even off-field.

Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting

Following the Monkeygate incident, there emerged a lot of tension between Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and Harbhajan Singh. Prior to the scandal as well, the duo always had troubling on-field relations. If rumors are to be believed, the skipper wanted to get the spinner banned and was in no mood for negotiation.

However, once again, Mumbai Indians in 2013 brought the two foes to play together for the common team. Ricky Ponting, then captain of Mumbai Indians, took a tremendous catch off Harbhajan Singh's bowl, which put the controversial talks to rest. Fans and the cricket fraternity admired Harbhajan Singh's hug to the captain post catch. The duo maintained a healthy and respectable relationship with each other and are often seen praising each other's past performances.

No matter how many controversies arise, it's best to witness them resolved into friendship. Witnessing such sportsmanship on-field and mutual respect despite age-old rivalries while playing for the same team sends a good and positive message among fans and young players. It shows how sports are above all the resentments.