The unparalleled extravaganza of Indian cricket, Indian Premier League (IPL) brings the audience to the edge of their seats. Not only because of the cricketing brilliance of the players but also their willingness to lock their horns in the spirit of a competition, IPL offers everything possible. Like ‘to lock their horns’ is used as a metaphor, indicating their ‘whatever it takes’ spirit to fight it out in the moment, here are some top fights of the Indian Premier League that have made a lasting impression on the fans.

Here’s a look at the most controversial fights in IPL history that grabbed headlines around the world

Abhishek Sharma-Digvesh Rathi fight after fiery notebook celebration (IPL 2025)

One of the most famous heated arguments of IPL took place in the 18th season, in the match between Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Between the Sunrisers’ opener Abhishek Sharma and Super Giants’ Digvesh Rathi after the latter’s ‘notebook’ celebration irked the former. As a result both the players got involved in a heated argument. Both the players were penalised for their actions; Abhishek was fined 25 percent of his match fee while Digvesh Rathi was fined 50 percent of his match fee and handed two demerit points which led to suspension for a match.

Virat Kohli - Gautam Gambhir fight from IPL 2013

The on-field clashes of both the cricketing stalwarts from Delhi are one of the most heated exchanges in IPL’s history. The first clash took place in 2013. When Kohli was walking back to the pavilion after being dismissed on 35 after getting caught at extra cover. Instead of walking back towards the pavilion, he started walking towards the players of KKR and then KKR captain Gautam Gambhir charged towards him. As a result, both of them exchanged words until Rajat Bhatia came between them and ended the clash.

LSG vs Virat Kohli (IPL 2023)

Another clash and this time a more heated one took place in IPL 2023, this time it was between Virat Kohli the veteran of RCB and Gautam Gambhir the then coach of LSG. The argument was a result of the Gambhir’s silent celebration in the previous clash of the two teams which was a nail-biter one, as LSG were in a situation where they required only one-run on the last ball of the game and LSG’s Avesh Khan celebrated the win by throwing his helmet on the ground.

But in the next game, RCB defended a low scoring target. It was Kohli’s aggressive celebration that irked Naveen-ul-Haq and it eventually led to intervention of Gautam Gambhir, who was the coach of the LSG camp. The argument was so intense that both of them were fined 100 percent of their match fees.

Kieron Pollard's wide ball controversy vs Mitchell Starc

In 2014, the fight between Mitchell Starc and Kieron Pollard was also one of the most talked about clashes of the IPL. In the 17th over of Mumbai Indians innings, as Pollard failed to hook a bouncer bowled by Starc, the latter said something to the former, which resulted in a heated exchange.

As soon as Starc was about to complete his run-up to finish the delivery, Pollard moved aside. But Starc completed the delivery as the ball went to the keeper. This action riled up Pollard as he threw his bat towards Starc. Umpires along with players like Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle intervened to settle things.

Slapgate incident from IPL 2008

It is one of the first clashes in the league’s history. In the inaugural season of IPL, a match was between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians. The then captain of MI, Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth, who was bowling from KXIP. The incident took place during the customary handshake post match as the images of crying Sreesanth became viral and are still very prominent in the digital space.