Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, who is ideally known for his cool and calm stature on the cricket field, lost his composure during India’s tour of Australia in 1981.
During the Melbourne Test in February 1981, Dennis Lillee spiked one back to the Indian captain Gavaskar, who was batting on 70, and appealed for a leg-before. The ball was hitting was not in doubt, but Gavaskar was firm that he had edged it. But Rex Whitehead (the umpire) disagreed and gave him out.
Gavaskar stood his ground long enough and even slapped his bat into his pad to show his anger to the umpire. As Gavaskar reluctantly started to leave, Lillee reportedly made one comment too many and Gavaskar returned to the crease and commanded fellow opener Chetan Chauhan to walk off the pitch with him. Chauhan did as he was told, but at the boundary rope, the team manager Shahid Durrani and Bapu Nadkarni, the assistant manager persuaded Chauhan to return to resume his innings, while Gavaskar walked into the pavilion.
During a tea-time chat show with Sanjay Manjrekar and Kapil Dev, Gavaskar was quoted in saying:
“I regret the decision. It was a big mistake on my part.
“As Indian captain I was not supposed to act in that manner. In no way I can justify my act of defiance. Whether I was out or not, I should not have reacted that way,” Gavaskar said during a tea-time chat show with Sanjay Manjrekar and Kapil Dev.
“If the incident would have occurred in present times then I would have been fined.”