The IPL began its journey from the year 2008 and has grown exponentially huge every year. However the magnumopus of T20 cricket is not short of controversies. From the Slapgate controversy to the match fixing scandal the IPL has seen it all. Today, we will be talking about 5 of the biggest controversies in IPL.
1. Slapgate Controversy: The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League garnered a lot of negative publicity due to the Slapgate Controversy. The controversial incident took place between a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings Xi Punjab when Indian ace off spinner Harbhajan Singh slapped S.Sreesanth after MI defeated KXIP in a close encounter. Sreesanth was left crying after incident whereas Harbhajan was handed a 11 match ban.
2. The Spot Fixing Scandal: The integrity of the Indian Premier League was put into question when the 2013 edition was marred with the Spot Fixing Scandal. The trio of Rajasthan Royals S.Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila was found guilty and therefore banned from playing cricket along with IPL. The spot fixing scandal enraged a spark when the Supreme Court of India found the owners of two franchises Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings guilty leading to the ouster of the said teams from IPL 2016 and IPL 2017.
3. Starc vs Pollard rivalry: The 2014 edition of the IPL saw a heated altercation between the likes of MI's Kieron Pollard and RCB's Mitchell Starc on the field. The incident took place when Starc bowled a bouncer and Pollard was unable to connect leading to Starc sledging Pollard. Pollard who handwaved at Starc then pulled out of the next delivery when Starc had already started his run up. This enraged Starc as he did not stop and bowled the ball at Pollard's legs. Pollard didn't hold back as he threw his bat to Starc in anger. Things went really bad after this delivery and there was a heated exchange of words between the two. The duo was fined later for breaching the IPL code of conduct.
4. Ms Dhoni invades the pitch: Ms Dhoni is often hailed as Captain Cool on field. But he lost his cool and walked on the field in an IPL game unlike his demeanour. It took place in a match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals when the umpire reversed a no ball of Ben Stokes after discussing with the leg umpire. With 8 needed of 3 balls, the no ball saga infuriated Ms Dhoni who got out a couple of balls earlier, walked on to the field to discuss it with the third umpire who stood his ground. Although Chennai went on to win the match but Dhoni's invasion sparked quite a drama on the field.
5. Rishabh Pant calls back the batsmen: The ongoing edition of IPL 2022 is by far the most entertaining IPL season of all time. However this edition too has not been short of a controversy. In a match between involving the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, DC required 36 runs of the last 6 balls. Delhi's Rovman Powell hit the first 3 balls for 3 sixes bringing the equation to 18 of 3 balls. However the drama unfolded the next delivery when Obed Mccoy bowled a waist high full-toss and the Delhi Capitals demanded a no ball to it, which was overturned by the on field umpires. It was then Rishabh Pant ordered his batsmen to come back to the dugout. Things intensified when Bowling coach Pravin Amre invaded the pitch. Delhi went on to lose the match and Amre was handed a 1 match ban.
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