Former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs was known for his explosive batting style in international cricket. But he was also known to be one of the most notorious players whether it was on the field or out of the field.
No one can forget the infamous incident in 2007 where he was caught on stump mics saying some inappropriate things to the Pakistani fans who were present inside the ground in Centurion and was banned by the ICC due to his behaviour.
Recalling the incident, Gibbs answered a fan on Twitter who asked him what did he say to the Pakistani fans that forced International Cricket Council (ICC) to take such extreme steps towards the player. Giving a reply to the user’s query, Gibbs noted that he called some of the “rowdy” Pakistan fans “animals” after claiming that his wife and son were forced to get out of their seats because of the erratic behaviour from the fans.
“@hershybru, in 2007 you were charged and banned for 3 matches by ICC for racist remarks you made to the crowd in defense of Paul Harris. What are those comments that you made? #AskGibbsy,” a netizen wrote.
https://twitter.com/hershybru/status/1219615171079036936
To which, Gibbs wrote, “Called some rowdy Pakistan supporters animals. They forced my son and his mother out of their seats in front of the players viewing area.”
For the uninitiated, the cricketer was caught on the mic and the governing body was forced to take strict action following his inappropriate remarks. ICC banned the player for two Tests for making racist remarks during the first Test. He did appeal against the ban but was rejected by the ICC.
This is not the first Herschelle Gibbs has opened up about this particular incident. In his autobiography, To The Point, he mentioned how the whole team was so frustrated by the irritating behaviour of the Pakistani fans. The fans got rowdy and even kicked his family members, wife Liesl and son Richard, out of their seats.
“All of us Proteas were getting pretty irritated and unfortunately the stump microphones picked up our displeasure,” Gibbs wrote in the book.
The explosive batsman accumulated 6167 runs in 248 ODIs he played during his career and amassed 8094 runs in 90 Tests. He also featured in 23 T20 Internationals.
