How sledging became Australia’s biggest weapon?:Virat Kohli Sourav Ganguly led India’s retaliation, IPL made Aussies humble

In cricket, Australia doesn’t just win with bat and ball, they also play with their minds. On the field, their words cut like a sword, and this is their oldest weapon… sledging. This is not just abuse or foul language, but a well-thought-out strategy with which they mentally break down the opponent. Steve Waugh named it ‘mental disintegration’, meaning to win by breaking the opponent’s spirit. In Australia’s cricket culture, this weapon begins to be forged right from the school grounds, 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 calling it wrong, but Australia made it their strength? What is Sledging in Cricket? In cricket, sledging means using words against the opposition team and their players that break their focus. They get mentally broken, cannot focus on the game, and are unable to give their 100% on the field. Teams like Australia and England have often used this strategy a lot. When Team India played under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly, a lot of sledging was also seen from India’s side. Teams like South Africa and New Zealand often stay away from sledging. Sledging started before 1900 International cricket began in 1844. The Test format started in 1877. Sledging also began during this period. However, incidents 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. During the 1900s, William Gilbert Grace of England became famous for sledging. India’s Ranjit Singh had a heated argument with Grace in England itself, after which he was fined 50% of his match fee. Captains like Australia’s Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell in the 1960s encouraged their players to play mental games. Sledging habit in Australian children After 1970, the trend of sledging started increasing in Australia’s junior cricket. Even at school, college, and club levels, players did not hesitate to argue on the field. In fact, after 1980, coaching began to be given in their cricket academies on how to deal with sledging and mental pressure. India has not yet been able to start such coaching in junior cricket. West Indies taught Australia international sledging West Indies won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups on the strength of their aggressive approach and fast bowling. In 1979 itself, the team defeated Australia in a Test series in their own home. Fast bowlers and their sledging were the team’s weapon. The fear of Caribbean pacers was so ingrained in the Kangaroo batters that the team lost 3 more consecutive Test series against West Indies in their own home until 1992. Australia also started adopting this strategy of West Indies on the international stage. In 1987, Kangaroo captain Allan Border made the team champions for the first time with this planning in the World Cup. The next captain, Steve Waugh, made it a part of the strategy; he named sledging ‘mental disintegration’. This made the opposition players’ focus shift from the game to the talk. Under his captaincy, the team won the 1999 World Cup and also broke the streak of losing Test series at home against West Indies. Ponting prepared a team of sledgers After Waugh, Ricky Ponting became the captain of Australia, who led the team to victory in the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups. During this period, the team also won the Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009. Ponting’s team dominated cricket from 2000 to 2010. Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, and Ponting himself would try every possible way to break opposition players with sledging. Opposition teams would get nervous even before the match against Australia began. Something similar happened in 1999, 2003, and 2007, and Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka suffered big defeats in the World Cup finals due to immense pressure. India responded to sledging under Ganguly’s captaincy Until Mohammad Azharuddin’s captaincy, Team India was afraid to play in Australia and face sledging. When the team lost in Australia, Captain Azhar couldn’t even face the media in press conferences. After him, Sourav Ganguly took over the captaincy, who taught the team an aggressive approach and how to respond to sledging. Under Ganguly’s captaincy, players like Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, and Gautam Gambhir emerged, who did not shy away from responding to sledging. In 2008, Bhajji’s sledging incident with Andrew Symonds became quite famous. When Bhajji used some abusive words in Hindi to Symonds, which the Kangaroo player misunderstood as ‘monkey’, it later became the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal. Kohli dismantled Australian sledging Even after Ganguly’s retirement, under Dhoni’s captaincy, the team started struggling in Australia. The team could not win a single Test out of 8 there. Then Virat Kohli took over the captaincy, who not only defeated Australia in a Test series in their own home but also responded to the Kangaroo players in their own language. Sledging was also seen in BGT 2024-25 Last year, during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), there was sledging between Harshit Rana and Mitchell Starc. At that time, Starc, while batting, had said, “I bowl faster than you.” After that, in the second innings, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal told Starc, “You are bowling very slowly.” Jaiswal scored 161 runs in that innings. Starc settled the score in the second Test and dismissed Yashasvi LBW on the very first ball of the Day-Night Test. In the same match, there was also an argument between Travis Head and Mohammed Siraj. Head hit a six against Siraj, and on the very next ball, Siraj bowled him out. As soon as he took the wicket, Siraj celebrated aggressively, after which Head also said some abusive words to him. After the match, both players were found guilty of violating the ICC Code of Conduct and were fined. In the Melbourne Test, Australia’s young opener Sam Konstas and Virat Kohli were also seen arguing. After the over ended, batter Konstas was going to talk to his teammate. That’s when Kohli came and bumped shoulders with Konstas. An argument also ensued between the two. In the same match, Konstas and Bumrah also had an argument. Bumrah took out his anger on Konstas on batter Usman Khawaja and sent him back to the pavilion. After which, the entire Team India ran towards Konstas, celebrating. Sledging reduced after the arrival of IPL After the IPL started in India, the sledging by Australian players towards Indian players decreased. The IPL started in 2008; before that, Kangaroo players used to sledge in almost every match and series. After the IPL, a sense of camaraderie began to grow. This happened because all players play together in the IPL, which provides a better time to understand each other well. Also, Kangaroo players cannot earn as much money from their country’s league as they do from the IPL.