The ongoing Legends League tournament was expected to be a special occasion for cricket fans as some of the greatest players of all time came back to the cricket pitch in order to entertain fans and give them the chance to watch them play again in an extremely competitive tournament.
So far, the best players of yesteryears have produced some high-quality cricket in front of jam-packed crowds across India. Despite taking retirement, some players have managed to turn back the clock and produce some vintage performances.
However, things turned ugly during the qualifier 1 match between Bhilwara Kings and India Capitals as legendary Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson and World Cup-winning Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan had an ugly on-field spat. In a video that was widely shared on social media, Johnson was spotted pushing Yusuf after a verbal war of words.
Not many were sure about exactly transpired but reports in Australian media have claimed that the incident happened after Yusuf sledged one of the female umpires. “Johnson did nothing. [Pathan] was sledging the female umpires,” an unnamed player who kept his identity anonymous was quoted saying to Fox Sports Australia.
The Legends League tournament decided to conduct the entire tournament with only female umpires in a historic decision which took the sport away from century-old conventions.
Talking about the incident, the league commissioner Ravi Shastri decided to impose a 50% match fee fine on Johnson after the incident was revived. However, Yusuf escaped without getting any penalties for his action. The League’s CEO and co-founder Raman Raheja stated the spirit of cricket is of prime importance.
“We are here to promote serious and competitive cricket through this league. What happened yesterday on the ground during the qualifier match shouldn’t have happened. We have closely gone through the video multiple times before coming to any conclusion. I hope everyone gets a clear message that the spirit of the game is of prime importance and such things won’t get repeated in this league,” said Raheja.
Johnson and Pathan will once again go head-to-head when the two sides clash in the final of the tournament on Wednesday (October 5) in Jaipur.
