It’s been 11 years that the Indian Premier League has been entertaining the cricket fans in the country. By now, watching the IPL has become a regular ritual of the summers. Over the years, the Indian Premier League has been labelled as the platform for the youngsters to make it big.
However, since its inception in 2008, the cash-rich league has grabbed headlines even for the wrong reasons which have shocked the cricket lovers. Latestly.com takes you down the memory and brings to you 5 major controversies of the cash-rich league.
Harbhajan Singh – Sreesanth Slap-gate
The infamous slap gate row grabbed headlines in 2008. After the match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, the players as usual, shook hands with each other. Suddenly, Harbhajan (Mumbai Indians) without any provocation slapped Sreesanth who back then played for Kings XI Punjab. Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the season and had to shell out his match fees.
Lalit Modi Dethroned
Well, this came as a shocker to many. The brainchild of the IPL Lalit Modi, was accused of mismanagement of funds and shown the door minutes before the final presentation ceremony of 2010. Modi was officially barred from participating in all the matters related to BCCI and the IPL.
Ravindra Jadeja Banned For One Season
MS Dhoni’s blue eyed boy Sir Ravindra Jadeja bore the brunt for negotiating with another IPL franchise without informing his team Rajasthan Royals. Jadeja was banned from playing the Indian Premier League 2010.
Molestation Charge on Luke Pomersbach
Australian star Luke Pomersbach who played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore sadly grabbed headlines for something more than cricket. In the 5th season of the IPL, the cricket was arrested by the Delhi police for allegedly molesting a women from US. However, the charges were dropped later.
Spot-Fixing Charges
Now, spot-fixing in 2013 is considered to be one of the biggest controversies of the IPL which brought players like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina under the microscope. The case started when the police arrested a few bookies from Delhi and Ahmedabad. The police also nabbed Vindu Dara Singh for having links with bookies. Now, Vindoo was seen interacting with Sakshi Dhoni during one of the matches this not only aggravated the case but fingers pointed towards the skipper MS Dhoni and his wife. Post which, 3 players - Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan of Rajasthan Royals were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of spot-fixing. Later that week, police established the involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, who were principal owners of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, respectively. Both the teams were slapped with a ban of a couple of years.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2018 06:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).