As the eventful year of 2023 comes to an end, we take a look at some of the biggest cricket controversies. From the Indian Premier League to the World Cup every major tournament was filled with controversies. Amongst IPL and the ODI World Cup, the Ashes and the ongoing Pakistan tour of Australia weren’t without hot debates. Here are the biggest cricket controversies in 2023.
IPL 2023 and 2024
The display of skill and talent peaked during the IPL 2023 with players like Akash Madhwal and Rinku Singh making the most out of the limited opportunities they got. The IPL 2023 was the first season with the impact player as teams got used to thinking of playing XIIs instead of XIs. But the limelight in the middle of the season was stolen by a controversial fight.
Advertisement
Kohli – Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq fight
The controversy which later went on to become one of the biggest cricket controversies from the Indian Premier League started well before the Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore fixture on the 1st of May, 2023. During the first fixture between the two sides in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the visitors had pulled off a thriller to win the match on the last ball. Avesh Khan, who ran the winning run, threw his helmet during the celebrations. The wild celebrations from Avesh and team mentor, Gautam Gambhir lighted the spark to the fire waiting to erupt at the Ekana Stadium during the reverse fixture.
RCB defeated LSG by 18 runs at the Ekana Stadium where Gambhir and Kohli were involved in an ugly spat. First, it was Naveen who was involved in an argument with the former RCB skipper and then it was another fellow Delhi boy, Gambhir who got involved in an intense altercation. The controversy resulted in both Gambhir and Kohli losing 100% of their match fee while Naveen lost 50% of his fee.
Rohit sacked, Hardik named MI captain
The IPL 2024 has not even begun and the first controversy has already taken place. Hardik was traded back to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans in a blockbuster move which saw Cameron Green moving to RCB. The fans were already finding it difficult to cope with the news of the trade when MI dropped another bombshell by sacking experienced Rohit Sharma as the captain and announced Hardik as the captain. With Hardik being injured and reportedly missing IPL 2024, the announcement becomes even more bizarre. The change of captain resulted in a massive loss of social media followers for MI.
Ashwin or Shardul in the WTC Final?
Right after the IPL came the World Test Championship Final where a selection dilemma resulted in yet another controversy. Playing at The Oval, Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision that shocked many was the inclusion of Shardul Thakur into the playing XI instead of Ravichandran Ashwin. The opposition, Australia went ahead with their specialist spinner, Nathan Lyon thanks to fast bowling all-rounder, Cameron Green being their fourth pacer. Ashwin who has a sensational record against left-handed batters was dearly missed against Australia who had four left-handed batters among their top seven. Lyon on the other hand made a big impact in the game taking five wickets across the two innings.
Bairstow gets stumped by Carey
A stumping is pretty ordinary in cricket. A stumping off a fast bowler is a rarity in any form of cricket but what happened during the second Ashes test at the Lord’s certainly left each and everyone with raised eyebrows, particularly Jonny Bairstow who was the victim amidst the controversial dismissal.
Bairstow was on strike on the final ball of the 52nd over with Australian all-rounder, Cameron Green bowling. It was a short ball as Bairstow ducked under it and being the final ball of the over, the English wicketkeeper batter casually went on to talk to his partner at the other end. Bairstow in his mind thought that the ball was dead while the fielding team particularly, Carey did not think so and underarmed a throw to hit the stumps and completed the stumping.
Many associated with the sport offered varied opinions. Senior umpire, Simon Taufel believed the correct decision was made as the ball was not considered to be dead by the fielding side. While former legendary cricketer, Sir Geoffrey Boycott demanded a public apology from the Australian team over the controversial stumping.
Advertisement
Asia Cup moves from Pakistan to Sri Lanka
Even though it will be seen as a hybrid hosting event with Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing the hosts, Pakistan will feel that they were hard done by as BCCI rejected to play their matches in Pakistan. Upon BCCI’s request, the Indian matches along with some other high-octane matches were moved to Sri Lanka including the finals and five of the six Super Fours matches.
ODI World Cup 2023
The ODI World Cup along with the World Test Championship were two of the most highly-anticipated events of the year. The World Cup returned to the sub-continent after 12 years as India hosted the premier tournament. With its return to India, the World Cup brought along its fair share of controversies.
Pakistan refusing to play at some venues
In reply, to BCCI moving India’s matches in Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan too flexed their muscles and requested and refused to play at certain venues. One of the biggest requests that came from the Pakistan Cricket Board was that they refused to play matches at Narendra Modi Stadium unless it was a knockout match. The ‘Men in Green’ played only one match at the iconic stadium against arch-rivals, India. After that match, Pakistan’s team director, Mickey Arthur criticised the way their team was being treated and said that he felt that it was a BCCI event and not an ICC event.
PCB requested that their matches be scheduled in only three cities, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. Earlier a draft of venues was announced where Pakistan were playing Afghanistan in Chennai and Australia in Bengaluru. PCB analysts proposed a swap of venues for the two games as they felt that they were playing the two teams in stadiums where they would have the maximum advantage. In hindsight, the analysts might have been right as Pakistan lost to both Australia and Afghanistan.
Empty stadiums in the World Cup
When the World Cup came back to India, it was expected that the matches would be played in front of stadiums packed with passionate fans. In contrast, most matches saw a below-average turnout at stadiums. Late releases of tickets, schedules and even late changes to the schedule were some of the primary reasons for a low turnout at stadiums. The first batch of tickets went on sale less than six weeks before the first game.
Pakistan calls foul play over balls used in Indian matches
Former Pakistani cricketer, Hasan Raza alleged that the ICC and BCCI were providing the Indian team with different balls and even said that the DRS calls were going in India’s favour. Raza spoke on a news channel after the India vs Sri Lanka match in the World Cup. Raza said, “We are seeing that when they are batting, they bat well, and suddenly the ball starts doing things when India bowls. There have been 7-8 close DRS calls that have gone in their favour. The way Siraj and Shami were swinging the ball, it seemed like the ICC or the BCCI were giving them different and suspicious balls in the second innings. There needs to be an inspection done on the ball. There could also be an extra layer of coating on the ball for swing.”
Angelo Mathews timed out
In a first in the history of the sport, Angelo Mathews became the first victim of timed-out dismissal. The historic dismissal took place during the ODI World Cup 2023 against Bangladesh. Mathews became the first person to be timed out when he came to the crease after two minutes of the fall of a wicket. What followed the controversial dismissal was a series of tweets from Mathews indicating that he was indeed at the crease before the stipulated two minutes.
Warner vs Johnson
In relation to Warner’s retirement, Australian former seamer Mitchell Johnson and opening bat David Warner had lately argued digitally. In a podcast, Johnson expressed his disapproval of Australia Cricket for permitting Warner to play his final series despite his involvement in the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal. Warner responded by saying that he didn’t mind that people were talking about him and gaining views and fame. Warner then silenced everyone in the first test against Pakistan, by hitting an incredible century in his final test series. The Warner vs Johnson saga was the last of the cricket controversies that came in 2023.
Advertisement