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In cricket, Australia does not just win with ball and bat, it also plays with its mind. His words on the field are like swords, and this is his oldest weapon… sledging.
This is not just abuse or bad language, but a well-thought-out strategy by which they break the opponent mentally.
Steve Waugh named it ‘Mental Disintegration’, i.e. winning by breaking the courage of the opponent.
In Australia’s cricket culture, this weapon starts being forged from the school grounds itself, where arguing is not considered a weakness but a part of the game.
So how did sledging become the identity of Australian cricket? Why did the rest of the world keep saying it was wrong, but Australia made it its strength?
What is sledging in cricket?
Sledging in cricket means using such words against the opposition team and their players, which distract them from their focus. He was mentally broken, could not focus on the game and could not give his 100% on the field.
Teams like Australia and England have often used this strategy extensively. When Team India played under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly, a lot of sledging was seen from the Indian side. Teams like South Africa and New Zealand often stay away from sledding.
Sledding started before 1900
International cricket started in 1844. The Test format started in 1877. During this time sledding also started. However, stories of sledging in domestic cricket had emerged as early as 1765. Before 1900, players from Australia and England were often found arguing on the field.
England’s William Gilbert Grass became famous for sledding during the 1900s. India’s Ranjit Singh had an argument with Grace in England itself, after which he was fined 50% of his match fee. Australia’s 1960s captains like Richie Banod and Ian Chappell encouraged their players to play mental games.
WG Grace of England introduced sledging in international cricket.
Australian children’s habit of sledding
After 1970, the practice of sledding started increasing in Australian junior cricket. Even at school, college and club level, players did not shy away from disputes on the field. Even after 1980, how to deal with sledging and mental pressure in the cricket academy there? Even coaching started being given on this. India has not been able to start this kind of coaching in junior cricket till now.
West Indies taught international sledding to Australia
West Indies won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups on the basis of their aggressive approach and fast bowling. In 1979 itself, the team defeated Australia in the Test series at its own home. Fast bowlers and their sledging were the weapons of the team. The fear of the Caribbean pacers was so ingrained in the Kangaroo batsmen that the team lost 3 more consecutive Test series against the West Indies in their own home till 1992.
Australia also started adopting this strategy of West Indies on the international stage. In 1987, Kangaroo captain Allan Border made the team champion for the first time in the World Cup with this planning. The next captain Steve Waugh made it a part of his strategy, he named sledging as mental disintegration. Due to which the focus of the opposition players shifted from the game to talking. Under his captaincy, the team won the 1999 World Cup and also broke the streak of losing the Test series at home against the West Indies.
Ponting prepared a team of sledgers
After Waugh, Ricky Ponting became the captain of Australia, who led the team to win the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups. The team also won the 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophy during this period. Ponting’s team ruled cricket from 2000 to 2010.
Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and even Ponting himself tried their best to break the opposition players by sledging. Opposition teams used to get nervous even before the start of the match against Australia. Something similar happened in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka had to face huge defeats in the World Cup finals due to immense pressure.
India responded to sledging under Ganguly’s captaincy
Till the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin, Team India was afraid of playing in Australia and facing sledging. When the team lost in Australia, captain Azhar could not even face the media in the press conference. After him, Sourav Ganguly took over the captaincy, who taught the team to respond to aggressive approach and sledging.
Players like Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir emerged under the captaincy of Ganguly. Who did not shy away from responding to sledging. In 2008, Bhajji’s story of sledding with Andrew Symonds became more famous. When Bhajji said some abusive words to Symonds in Hindi, which the Kangaroo player mistook for a monkey. Which later became the Monkeygate scandal.
Kohli destroys Australian sledging
After Ganguly’s retirement, the team started playing poorly in Australia under Dhoni’s captaincy. The team could not win even a single test out of 8 there. Then Virat Kohli took over the captaincy. Who not only defeated Australia in the Test series at home, but also responded to the Kangaroo players in their own language.
Sledding was also seen in BGT 2024-25
Last year, there was a sledging incident between Harshit Rana and Mitchell Starc during the first Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Then Starc, while batting, had said that I bowl faster than you. After this, in the second innings, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal told Starc, you are bowling very slowly. Jaiswal had scored 161 runs in that innings.
Starc leveled the score in the second test and made Yashasvi LBW on the very first ball of the day-night test. In the same match, there was an argument between Travis Head and Mohammad Siraj. Head hit a six against Siraj, Siraj bowled him on the next ball. As soon as Siraj took the wicket, he celebrated aggressively, after which the head also said some abusive words at him. After the match, ICC found both the players guilty of code of conduct violation and fined both of them.
Australia’s young openers Sam Constas and Virat Kohli were also seen arguing in the Melbourne Test. After the over was over, batsman Kontas was going to talk to his fellow player. Then Kohli came and collided shoulders with Constas. There was an altercation between the two. In this match, Constas and Bumrah also got into an argument. Bumrah vented out Constas’ anger on batsman Usman Khawaja and sent him to the pavilion. After which the entire Team India started celebrating by running towards Constas.
Sledding reduced after IPL came
After the start of IPL in India, the sledging of Australian players in front of Indian players reduced. Before IPL started in 2008, Kangaroo players used to sledge in almost every match and series. After IPL, brotherly behavior started increasing. This happened because in IPL all the players play together, which gives them better time to understand each other better. Also, Kangaroo players are not able to earn as much money as IPL from their country’s league.
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