IPL 2019: Biggest controversies from the first week
Controversies – The negative attention, everyone loves it don’t they?
While there's some outstanding cricket being played, there are some other reasons why the tournament is getting so much attention.
1. Pitch quality in the opening encounter
Not the first time we have seen an Indian ground getting hammered on social media for planting a spinner-friendly track. But what we witnessed in the opening match of this season between RCB & CSK was ridiculous and shocking. The track was extremely dry and dead, making spinners lick their fingers.
It’s completely fine to have a pitch which assists spinners, but the way the track behaved gave batsmen no chance to compete. There was a stat displayed during the course of that game, which showed that the average turn a bowler grasps from a pitch in IPL history was 2.7 degrees per ball, while the turn available on that day at the Chepauk was 7.2 degrees per ball, almost 3 times more than the average.
2. No ball not given at the expense of RCB’s two points
Mumbai Indians need 7 run to win, one delivery remaining! Shivam Dubey, who hit a six earlier in the over, was on strike with over 25,000 hearts in the stadium pumping like a motor. Lasith Malinga delivers an absolute peach of a full-length delivery, to which the 25-year-old Dubey could only muster one run. Mumbai Indians won the game by five runs and it was another setback for RCB. But hang on! The drama wasn’t done yet. After the match was officially closed, when the ground staff was preparing to set the stage for the closing ceremony and the players kept shaking hands, replays on the big screen suggested Malinga had clearly overstepped off the final ball. A shattered Kohli demolished the umpires for not noticing that in the post-match interview and some reports also suggested he barged into the match referee’s room before using expletives against the officials. With so much technology at the doorstep, this was very much avoidable and shouldn’t have garnered so much attention.
3.Ashwin Mankads Buttler
Without a shadow of a doubt, this will probably end up as the biggest talking point of IPL 2019. It was the first time a batsman was dismissed via Mankading in the tournament’s 12-season history and there were many reasons which made this controversial. Rajasthan Royals were cruising in their run-chase against Punjab, before Buttler was dismissed this way and Punjab miraculously won the game.While the whole fraternity was upset with Ashwin not displaying sportsmanship, in his defense, this mode of dismissal is completely fair and not against the rules. But replays suggested that the KXIP captain had paused intentionally during his delivery stride to bluff Buttler and set him up for the dismissal. It is completely fine for the dismissal to be spontaneous, but it definitely wasn’t.
4.MSD loses his ‘cool’
CSK skipper MS Dhoni's atypical gesture saw him being fined 50 per cent of his match fees for a Level 2 offence of the IPL Code of Conduct.
In a dramatic turn of events, CSK won their game against RR by Mitchell Santner. But the issue continued was how CSK captain MSD lost his cool & walked out on to the field to protest an overturned no-ball in the final over.
The CSK skipper walked out of the dugout and onto the field after a no-ball was rescinded in a nail-biting last over. The no-ball call that was revoked by square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford irked Dhoni. The rare sight of ‘Captain Cool’ losing his temper shocked fans and many said it was a rare moment that will always be remembered.
