TOP 3 IPL CONTROVERSIES OF 2023

IPL 2023, the 16th edition of the tournament was a big hit. This season was one of the most thrilling and unpredictable one from the very first match to the very last ball of the tournament. Players do play IPL with a zeal. Their zeal sometimes creates issues on field. Players take their playing spirits personally sometimes which becomes the reason of on field controversy.

Top 3 IPL controversies of the IPL 2023 are as follows:

NITISH RANA VS HRITHIK SHOKEEN

During IPL 2023’s Match no. 22 between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai a heated exchange began between KKR’s captain Nitish Rana and MI’s spinner Hrithik Shokeen. Both players were punished for breaching IPL’s Code of Conduct. Moreover Rana was fined 25% of his match fee while Shokeen was fined 10% of his own match fee.

This incident happened in the ninth over of the match when Shokeen dismissed Rana which was caught by fielder Ramandeep Singh. Shokeen looked towards player Rana after that and used foul words This led Rana turning back to respond. This verbal spat was handled by Mumbai’s Suryakumar Yadav and senior Piyush Chawla.

Most importantly Rana and Shokeen are teammates in domestic cricket in the Delhi side but do not have talking terms between them. It was not the first time that these two players have bursted as it has happenned earlier too.

Rana had a minimal game with the bat, getting out at five runs off 10 balls. On the other hand, Shokeen being a busy one took a sharp catch even to dismiss N Jagadeesan early off Cameron Green’s ball. Shokeen also came back with a figures of 4-0-39-2. It accounted for KKR’s all-rounder player Shardul Thakur.

The fines imposed on Shokeen and Rana were absolutely right as per consequences of their actions on the field. For the Level 1 breach of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Match Referee decision is always considered final and binding. This incident even highlighted the need for players to maintain their calmness and respect each other on the match ground, leaving behind any of their personal issues they are having off the field in their personal lives.

ROHIT SHARMA’S DISMISSAL BY RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals  (MI VS RR) encountered each other at the Wankhede Stadium. While chasing a 213-run target, MI and RR got into a dismissal controversy. Rajasthan’s pacer Sandeep Sharma outplayed Mumbai’s opener Rohit Sharma smartly with a knuckle delivery. It was the final ball of the second over. The ball went on and deceived Rohit, who was not ready for it. It later went to the bail between the middle and off stump.

Rohit Sharma was bowled out on his 36th birthday. While this dismissal seemed to be a clean one, a controversy arose from it. Fans started wondering if the bail actually fell down after getting smashed by the ball or there was some other reason to it.

Sanju Samson celebrated as he was standing behind wickets and saw bail fall. But the netizens speculate that it was Sanju Samson’s glove that made the bail fall down. 

Originally, Samson was only standing in the line of the bail and didn’t touch the bail’s stumps even.

As soon as the dismissal entered into controversy, IPL took to its Twitter to post the video  clean dismissal from several different angles. The dismissal of Rohit Sharma took the net to storm before having clarity.

VIRAT KOHLI VS GAUTAM GAMBHIR AND NAVEEN- UL- HAQ

This IPL controversy began when Gautam Gambhir displayed silence sign to the Bangalore crowd during RCB vs LSG, match 15 of IPL 2023. This increased fans enthusiasm for the next RCB vs LSG. Both of the teams competed against each other agaian in match 43. This match was held at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. RCB won this match by 18 runs. Naveen-ul-Haq, who was an LSG bowler, and Kohli entered in verbal spat in the post-game handshake. When player Kyle Mayers later was conversing with Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, rushed there.

Gambhir tried to separate Mayers from talking to Kohli which became a scene out there. Moreover, it became tense when Kohli and Gambhir entered a verbal spat. Following this incident, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees whereas Naveen was fined 50% of the match fee.

Kohli and Gambhir have even fought ten years ago, in IPL 2013. In a KKR vs RCB match, Lakshmipathy Balajit dismissed Kohli for 35 runs. Virat Kohli appeared to find some of the KKR fielder’s celebrations offensive. So he went for a discussion with them. When Gambhir, KKR’s captain, took a charge at Kohli, the situation became more tense. It was then also a verbal battle after which both were seperated. 

ALSO READ: https://criccrunch.com/csk-vs-gt-csk-qualifies-for-the-ipl-2023-finals/