IPL 2020: 5 most intense on-field player rivalries
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) saw the best players in the world overcome unprecedented circumstances and lack of match practice to put on a world-class display of top-quality cricket.
In what was one of the most hotly contested editions in history, many on-field player rivalries threatened to boil over. With the stakes higher than ever in the cash-rich league, altercations were quite common, although it must be said that sportsmanship was maintained for the most part.
Here are the 5 best on-field player rivalries from IPL 2020.
#5 Shreyas Iyer vs Varun Chakravarthy - Match 42 of IPL 2020
Only one 5-for was taken in IPL 2020, and the feat was accomplished by KKR mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy against DC. The Tamil Nadu man scalped the wickets of Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel and Shimron Hetmyer, but his most prized scalp was that of DC captain Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer had to go after the bowling due to the mounting required run rate, and holed out in the deep. While crossing over, he ended up right next to Chakravarthy, who sent him off with a cheeky namaste. The 25-year-old didn't seem to take too kindly to the gesture, and glared at Chakravarthy on his way back to the pavilion.
"This is surreal. The last few games I didn't get wickets. I wanted to get one or two today, but thank god I got five. I enjoyed Shreyas Iyer's wicket the most. I was bowling to the shorter boundary so I had to attack the stumps," Chakravarthy said after the game.
#4 Marcus Stoinis vs Rashid Khan - Qualifier 2 of IPL 2020
Marcus Stoinis' promotion to opener worked splendidly for DC in their IPL 2020 Qualifier 2 encounter against SRH, as he got his team off to a flying start alongside Shikhar Dhawan. Bereft of answers, David Warner turned to his biggest trump card in IPL 2020 - Rashid Khan.
The Afghan leggie struck almost immediately, castling Stoinis after squaring him up with a vicious away-turner. As the Aussie walked back to the pavilion, Rashid had many words to say, and seemed to point the batsman towards the general direction of the pavilion. Stoinis is not one to back away, and his mouthy retort was caught on camera.
Stoinis won the battle eventually, as he picked up 3 wickets to severely dent the SRH run-chase en route to the Man of the Match award. Although he didn't directly sledge Rashid, his passion during his wicket celebrations was there for all to see.