From Dhoni-Yuvraj to Kohli-Rohit: 5 cricketing pairs who are unlikely to ever be good friends

Cricketers and their teammates usually maintain a good rapport, as it helps them in having a great understanding on the pitch, needed in the sport, which heavily involves teamwork. However, not all of them share a healthy friendship or relationship, especially outside the field.

As far as cricketers are concerned, they are gentlemen and are one of the most humble human beings on the planet, as they play the gentlemen’s sport. Naturally, they have to maintain a healthy friendship and relationship with their teammates, as the sport involves a fair amount of teamwork.

However, some cricketers do have personal differences with some members of their team, as they don’t share a good rapport. Although they manage to get along on the field, we take a look at some of these cricketers who can never be good friends outside the sport.

MS Dhoni-Gautam Gambhir: Dhoni is one of the legendary cricketers of Team India, who needs no introduction. Although he is also one of the most respected ones, he has some differences with a few of his teammates. One of them happens to be Gambhir, as the latter had accused him of intentionally dropping him in Australia, in 2012, despite scoring runs. “In the 2012 Tri-series in Australia, Dhoni declared that he can’t play all three (Gambhir, Sachin, and Sehwag) of us together as he was looking ahead at the 2015 World Cup. It was a massive shock. I have not heard anyone be told in 2012 that they would never be a part of the 2015 World Cup,” Gambhir had told India Today.

Michael Clarke-Simon Katich: The personal difference also spreads to overseas and in Australia. Prominent Australian cricketers Clarke and Katich were once involved in a brawl after Australia beat South Africa in Sydney, in 2009, as the two had a disagreement over ‘Under the Southern Cross I Stand’ that should have been sung after the win. Following the argument, Katich grabbed Clarke by his collar. As Katich lost his career, Clarke wrote in his autobiography, “I don’t think my language was appropriate to Kato.” Meanwhile, Katich had said, “You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that it’s not just the selectors that had a part in sending me on my way. I mean, to be brutally honest, obviously what happened in the dressing room a few years ago didn’t help my cause.”

Kevin Pietersen-Andrew Strauss: The indifference spreads to England too, as Pietersen and Strauss’s triviality is no stranger to fans. It was in 2012 when Pietersen had admitted to disparaging about Strauss to some South Africans. As Pietersen was dropped for the final Lord’s Test, England lost and Strauss announced his retirement. Two years later, Strauss expressed his frustrations at Pietersen and called him a ‘c***’ on live television. After he became England’s new director of cricket a year later, he dropped Pietersen from the English squad, as his career came to a premature end. Nonetheless, Strauss later admitted by saying, “I feel I didn’t do enough work with KP.”, but also noted that the latter should have handled talents in a better way.

Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli: This happens to be one of the most shocking ones in Indian cricket. As per reports, it was brewing for some time already. However, it got more evident following the conclusion of the 2019 ICC World Cup, as Rohit stopped following Kohli and his Bollywood wife, Anushka Sharma, on social media. It all started after one of Rohit’s family members stayed too long with him at the team hotel, outside the stipulated time frame, which was not accepted by skipper Kohli. Although Kohli has denied any hard feeling between the two, it does not look like they are really on good terms.

MS Dhoni-Yuvraj Singh: Now, this happens to be one of the most controversial and famous ones. Although both Dhoni and Yuvraj have played some brilliant innings together, they have always had a difference. Yuvi reportedly had attitude problems, as he never got along with Dhoni. Furthermore, Yuvi had even supposedly accused Dhoni of not giving him enough support and game time, especially following his return after battling cancer, as apparently, there was no place for him in the squad. It led to Yuvi missing out on the latter part of his career and retiring on a sad note. Nevertheless, both have never really opened up on their relationship.