Andre Nel: “When I saw him walk out, the first thing I thought was ‘hit him on the head'”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Former South Africa pace bowler Andre Nel has revealed that he wanted to hit India seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth on the head when their teams clashed in 2006.
The incident took place on the third day of the first Test in Johannesburg. India were 384 runs ahead in their second innings after Sreesanth had carved through South Africa’s batting line-up and skittled them out for 84 with his career-best figures of 5-40.
On December 17, 2006, which was the third day of the match, Sreesanth walked out to the crease, which prompted Nel to unleash a verbal tirade to try and get under his skin and inside his head.
While Nel is renowned for sledging opposition batsmen, the 40-year-old harboured much darker thoughts on this occasion.
“When I saw him walk out, the first thing I thought was ‘hit him on the head'” Nel told Cricbuzz. “To be fair, that was generally my thought no matter who was batting.
Nel began to verbally abuse Sreesanth after delivering his first ball.
“To be honest, I can’t remember what I said,” Nel conceded. “It was a heat of the moment thing and probably something along the lines of ‘I’ve got more heart than you’. I honestly couldn’t say for sure.”
However, what happened next was one of the most hilarious, yet bizarre, moments to ever occur on a cricket field. Sreesanth managed to connect onto a delivery from Nel and deposit it over the boundary for a six.
An exhilarated Sreesanth subsequently began to whirl his bat around and gyrate his hips.
“I never saw him celebrate,” Nel said. “When you’ve been hit for six after giving a guy a lot of lip you have no choice but to put your tail between your legs and turn around. But it was great fun. I always looked for a fight on the field and loved it when someone would come back at me.”
While Nel often emitted an aura of anger while out of the field, he insisted that he was a much different person off it.
“People think I’m aggressive and loony and maybe forget that I actually had a bit of skill, but so be it,” he said. “As long as I know that the people close to me know the real me, then others can think what they want.
“I was the first to walk up to my opponent and shake his hand after the game. I had a laugh with Sreesanth back in the change room. He was such a character and I loved my tussle with him.
“I saw him around when I played in the IPL and we always spoke about that day. I know he enjoyed it as much as I did. I know the fans did too. Cricket is meant to be exciting and I hope people know how incredibly proud I was representing my country.”