Though rivalry between two teams makes the contest more fascinating to watch but the battle between two great players is the one that actually added more spice to that fascination.

Cricket from 90: Steve Waugh vs Curtly Ambrose

It was probably right that more greats played against each other and more rivalries between teams and players developed in years after 1990. Cricket after 1990 saw the emergence of many great players from all over the world where some even pushed them into legendary status but most had their rivalries going between them throughout their career and some even after their game is over. Let’s have a look at some of the memorable rivalries between great players that took place on the field.

Steve Waugh Vs Curtly Ambrose

It doesn’t get bigger than this in the game of cricket, the fighter vs the intimidator. Ambrose who was known to be never abused any batsmen because his stares are good enough to put the batsmens in fear and Waugh who was known for his “never say no” determinant attitude had an altercation that actually seeded the beginning of new legacy in the cricketing world. Not many knew exactly what happened but the image of WI captain dragging Ambrose away from Steve lived up for so long. Later in his autobiography, Steve revealed that he is the one who verbally abused Ambrose since the bowler kept staring at him all the time.

The show was never ended on that day in 1995, it continued for next five years producing some outstanding cricket till Ambrose hanged up his shoes.

Harbhajan Singh vs Ricky Ponting

The scenes of Harbhajan Singh running towards the boundary line after dismissing Ricky Pointing in the 2008 VB series tells how much they loved between them.  As many believe, it doesn’t started on 2001 Epic series rather it was the one that increased the magnitude of rivalry that was actually started on the famous sandstorm match in 1998 Sharjah series. After hitting Harbhajan for four in first ball and next ball for monster six over midwicket, Ricky trying to hit another one lost his wicket and the due broke in verbal abuse for which both got reprimanded after the match.

So far, it is fair to say Bhajji leads Ricky but next year Border-Gavaskar series in Australia might provide the climax showdown in their tussle.

Sachin Tendulkar vs Glenn Mcgrath

The battle between this two will make any stadiums full leave alone the matchup between two teams. Probably the best on their department in modern times and rightly so they had battles to test themselves in the cricket field. It started in the early part of their careers where they had altercations but once they become legends, the intensity reduced to more inner battles that outsiders can only feel not see. It is fair to say there was never a winner in this show, only the viewers are entertained and cricket was always felt at his best in their contests.

When Mcgrath hit Sachin head on bouncer, he went up to check whether he is okay not to apologize and Sachin after hitting next ball asks Pigeon where is the bouncer? Feeling tired?

There are many great players rivalries like Warne vs Sachin, Flintoff vs Yuvraj, Zaheer vs Smith, Peterson vs Warne, Lee vs Lara and some even more spicy with player vs country like Warne vs England, Ganguly vs Australia and Afridi vs India but for me above three sticks taller than everything. When I think of healthy, great and absorbing contest, those three are off different class from the rest.

Also Read: Cricket From 90: Top 5 Best Test Matches

Feel anything I missed out? Which is your best rivalry to watch? Feel free to voice your comment.

Tags: Australia, Cricket, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Harbhajan Singh, India, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, West Indies