IPL Auction 2022: Three players who were embroiled in major controversies
IPL 2022 will see the introduction of two new teams based out of Lucknow and Ahmedabad. While the RPSG group led by Sanjiv Goenka purchased the Lucknow franchise for a whopping INR 7090 crore, CVC Capital bought the Ahmedabad franchise for INR 5625 crore.
IPL 2022 will also see a mega auction with most of the players from the existing teams going back into the auction pool. The existing teams have been given the option of retaining up to four players each from their current roster, while the new teams will then have the option of picking up to three players each from the ones not retained.
The IPL has never been averse to controversies in the years gone by. Right from its inception, the league has seen controversies of different kinds involving a number of big-name players as well. While the IPL's brand value has not been affected by any means, these controversies have become part of IPL folklore.
Here, we take a look at three such players who were embroiled in major controversies in the IPL:
#3 Wayne Parnell
South African bowling all-rounder Wayne Parnell plied his trade for the Pune Warriors India during the 2011 and 2012 seasons of the IPL. During his stint with the side, the left-arm seamer found himself in the midst of a controversy in 2012.
Wayne Parnell, along with fellow teammate and Indian leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, were caught when a police raid busted a rave party at a hotel in Mumbai. They were two among more than a hundred people who were detained by the police that night.
Parnell and Rahul Sharma both pleaded innocence and that they were totally unaware of any sort of rave party. In 2013 though, Parnell surrendered to the court before being granted bail for INR 10,000. Both Parnell and Rahul Sharma's cricket careers have not been hampered by the incident by any means though.
While Parnell is now set to return to the South African side having played in the English County circuit as a Kolpak player, Rahul Sharma is currently not in the radars of Indian domestic teams.
#2 Harbhajan Singh
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was involved in what was arguably the first major controversy in the IPL. The infamous 'Slapgate' controversy involving Harbhajan and fast-bowler S Sreesanth dates back to the inaugural IPL season in 2008.
The incident took place after a game between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, where Harbhajan Singh was leading MI. Kings XI won the contest, post which the players from both sides exchanged the customary handshakes. It was at this point of time that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth.
Match referee Farokh Engineer tried playing peacemaker between the two in an official hearing conducted by the IPL. Both Sreesanth and Harbhajan embraced each other as well but Harbhajan copped a ban for the rest of the season, apart from being fine his entire season fee.
Things have been cordial between the two thereafter though, with both going on to play for India together on quite a few occasions too. 'Slapgate' is still known as one of the earliest controversies to have engulfed the IPL.
#1 S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth and controversy were never far away during his prime playing days. And the IPL's biggest controversy till date saw the speedster from Kerala embroiled in it.
Sreesanth was arrested on spot-fixing charges during the 2013 IPL. He was plying his trade for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) that season. Along with Sreesanth, spinners Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were also arrested by the police.
A series of interrogations followed post which Sreesanth was handed a life ban by the BCCI later that year. While he was given the clean chit in 2015, his life ban continued to remain in force by the BCCI. The Kerala High Court also revoked Sreesanth's life ban in 2017.
It took until 2019 for Sreesanth to get relief, with the BCCI reducing his ban to 7 years upon the Supreme Court of India's suggestion. Sreesanth was cleared to resume playing competitive cricket later that year and he made his comeback during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21.
It was a fairytale comeback as well for Sreesanth as he bowled his famed outswinger to castle Puducherry's Fabid Ahmed on return in January 2021. While he also went on to feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that followed, Sreesanth's name was missing from the final list of the IPL player auction 2021, despite him registering for it.
Sreesanth went on to state that while he may have missed out on playing the IPL again, he would continue to try harder and make his way into the competition again.