Cricket's controversial kids

As S Sreesanth gets a final word of warning from the BCCI and Kerala Cricket Association for repeatedly breaching the conduct in domestic and international matches, CricketNDTV.com briefly takes a look at the cricketers who have rubbed the law-makers and caretakers of the game the wrong way and subsequently have faced the brunt. (AFP Photo)

Sreesanth is perhaps one of those cricketers whose on-field histrionics have overshadowed his talent. He not only irked international giants like Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, but also his own teammates. During the inaugural IPL, he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh (controversy's another favourite child) at the end of the match between Kings XI and Mumbai Indians. That saw Bhajji being fined heavily and banned from the tournament. (AFP Photo)

Harbhajan has had his own string of controversies. During the 2008 Australia tour, Bhajji was initially handed a three-Test ban for racially abusing Andrew Symonds, but later he was cleared of all charges. He's has also been reported twice for chucking and been pulled up several times for publicly commenting at inappropriate times. (AFP Photo)

Apart from taking on Bhajji and Sreesanth, Andrew Symonds has also annoyed his mates. Be it treating stand-in skipper Michael Clarke as a novice or preferring fishing over team meeting. (AFP Photo)

But Australian cricketers have always been infamous for their aggression. Glenn McGrath, one of the greatest bowlers of all times, got indulged in one of the ugliest on-field incidents when he got into a verbal war with West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan during the fourth Test in Antigua in 2003. The exchange of words turned abusive and it was all because McGrath over-reacted to a sledging exchange that he had initiated. 

McGrath was also found guilty of using abusive language by match referee John Reid in a sour aftermath to England's fourth Test victory in 1998. (AFP Photo)

Australian Simon Katich got into an on-field argument with Indian opener Gautam Gambhir in November 2008 when he toured India for a four-Test series. A diminutive looking Gambhir was up for it and gave it back with full vengeance.

Gambhir was also involved in an incident with Australian all-rounder Shane Watson when he elbowed him while taking a single. Earlier, Gambhir also had had an argument with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi that turned quite ugly and both the players were reprimanded and fined. (AFP Photo)

While Pakistan cricket has a number of instances, fast pacer Shoaib Akhtar needs a special mention. The Rawalpindi Express is known more for his antics than his cricket. After a poor showing in the 2003 World Cup, he got involved in a verbal spat with captain Waqar Younis. Later he was axed along with other players, including Younis.

In a triangular series in 2003 in Sri Lanka, he was caught tampering with the ball, making him the second player ever to be banned on ball tampering charges. The same year he was banned for one Test and two ODIs for abusing Paul Adams in a match against South Africa. On April 1, 2008 Akhtar was banned for five years for violating the players' code of conduct. Though the ban was later revoked. (AFP Photo)

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam Ul Haq, though looks quite unlikely to get into trouble, he too has a series of ugly incidents against his name. In a 1997 Sahara Cup match against India, Inzamam assaulted a member of the crowd who had been comparing Inzamam to several kinds of potato on a megaphone.

On Pakistan's 2006 tour of England, Inzamam captained a team that refused to re-enter the field, after tea, in 2006 at The Oval after allegations of ball tampering from umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove. There have been several other incidents when he was reprimanded and penalised. (AFP Photo)

South African pacer Andre Nel's aggression too had him in trouble quite a few times. He was brought before the match referee for making offensive facial gestures to Chris Gayle and subsequently fined half of his match fee.

He was also known to be verbally aggressive towards batsmen. This behavior backfired during India's first Test match against South Africa, when he verbally admonished S Sreesanth after he took a swing at one of his deliveries and missed. The very next ball Sreesanth hit Andre for a six and danced around Andre in joy and defiance. (AFP Photo)