What happens in a dressing room, never stays in a dressing room. Its true, especially in cricket. Sometimes cricketer spill beans in the interviews, sometimes others do it. Let’s hear some interesting talks.
At times when a match is crucial, we wonder what happens behind closed doors in the dressing room. All these aspects of the game captivate cricket fans in infinite ways. Here are some of the most fascinating and true dressing room stories.
Virender Sehwag was grabbed by the collar by John Wright - Virender Sehwag played by his own rules, and John Wright was concerned about his careless batting. Sehwag threw his wicket during an India game in which a good opening partnership was essential, and Wright issued an ultimatum to Dravid saying, "If he gets out to one more bad shot, I'll really go after him." The Coach delivered the message to Sehwag, and he did not seem too bothered by it.
As expected, Sehwag did not bother to change his approach in the next match and struck a silly shot. In anger, John Wright grabbed Sehwag's collar and scolded him for his theatrics on the field. Sehwag, however, took it in a positive light and promised the Coach he would play better the next time.
Sunil Gavaskar trolled Farokh Engineer - When Sunil Gavaskar was selected to play for the Rest of the World team in 1971, Farokh Engineer advised him to take it easy, advising:
“The walk back to the pavilion in Melbourne is the longest you will ever experience.” Engineer himself got out for a duck, and Gavaskar had the last laugh!
Sachin's Wise Words Saved The World Cup Final After The Toss Fiasco - In the 2011 world cup final, the coin (toss) was flipped twice because the match referee could not hear Sangakkara's call. The Indian fans considered it cheating since Sangakkara did not confirm the call he originally made.
There was fury in the Indian dressing room over Sangakkara's tactics which temporarily distracted them from the biggest game of their lives. Being the most senior player in the squad, Sachin encouraged the players to remain focused on the task at hand and not let negativity ruin such an important occasion.
Virat Kohli's First Dressing Room Experience - Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were notorious for their pranks in the Indian dressing room. As Virat Kohli prepared for his debut, trying and failing to calm his nerves, the pair told him to touch Sachin's feet. They explained that this was a tradition for all newbies in the team to receive blessings from Sachin before their first match.
Dada offered to resign when the whole team pranked him - Besides being a bold captain, Sourav Ganguly was also quite thick with his players and always motivated them to play without fear. So, when Yuvraj and Ashish Nehra told him that they would not play under his captaincy as they were hurt by some of the statements he made against them in the press, Ganguly offered to quit - teary eyed.
The time Yuvraj trolled Dhoni as a newbie - Yuvraj teased Dhoni by calling him a 'Bihari' and telling him that winning matches is what makes a player great, not hitting big sixes. According to the number of matches Dhoni won for team India alone, I guess Dhoni took Yuvraj's advice seriously.
Dawood entered the Indian dressing room and Kapil Dev asked him to leave - Dawood Ibrahim entered the Indian dressing room in 1987 and told the team they would receive a car if they beat Pakistan, to which Kapil Dev replied, "Chal Bahar chal".
These are some of the most intrigued stories from the Indian dressing room. Hope you have enjoyed reading them.
