On 14 July, Chennai Super Kings, the most consistent team in the IPL, and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the cash-rich cricket league for a period of two years following the IPL match fixing scandal. The Justice Lodha Committee found Gurunath Meiyappan and RR's co-owner Raj Kundra guilty of their roles in betting and were banned for life from taking part in any cricketing activities. (Pic/ PTI)
During IPL 6, three Rajasthan Royals bowlers - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - were arrested on charges of spot-fixing by Delhi Police. It was followed by the arrest of former Chennai Super Kings Team Principal and sidelined BCCI president N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in betting on IPL matches. Supreme Court told Srinivasan to step down from his position as BCCI president in order to ensure a fair investigation. On January 22, 2015, the apex court ruled that both Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were guilty of illegal betting. It further stated that while BCCI chief-in-exile Srinivasan was not guilty of cover up in the 2013 IPL betting and spot fixing case, he couldn't contest Indian cricket board polls till he owned Chennai Super Kings.
In April 2010, the BCCI suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi for 'alleged acts of individual misdemeanours'u00c3u0083u00c2u0083u00c3u0082u00c2u0082u00c3u0083u00c2u0082u00c3u0082u00c2u009d. The BCCI framed 22 charges of impropriety against Modi. But the sacked IPL chairman has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The BCCI even stopped 12 Indian players from joining the Sri Lankan Premier League T20 cricket tournament in 2011 on the basis that Modi had ties with the event's organizers. Modi has denied these links too.
BCCI expelled both Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab franchises from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for committing violations in their shareholding pattern, without informing the cricket board. But both the franchises decided to contest the ruling and ultimately the issue went to court. The Bombay High Court ruled in favour of the franchises allowing them to be part of the tournament.
In September 2011, BCCI terminated the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise after they allegedly defaulted on the payment of franchise fees to the cricket board. The trigger for the decision was the franchise's inability to furnish a new bank guarantee for 2011. Some of the Kochi players were picked up during the auction for IPL V.
IPL IV saw a major controversy surrounding the pitch selection for a Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings game. The controversy erupted after the pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur was changed at the last minute. Royals' captain Shane Warne had termed the decision as 'ridiculous' and hinted at foul play. The accusation was aimed at CSK owner N Srinivasan using his clout to influence the curator's decision. The board had rubbished the claims and said that it was the curator's prerogative to select the playing surface.
The board scrapped the broadcast contract with Nimbus Communications for fixtures played in India. scrapped the broadcast contract with Nimbus Communications for fixtures played in India. BCCI also forfeited the bank guarantee amount of Rs 2,000 crore. Nimbus had signed a four-year deal with the BCCI in October 2009 for that sum. The case is being heard in the Bombay High Court.
The Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) took on sports minister Ajay Maken over the National Sports Development Bill. The cricket board rejected the the sports bill that sought to regulate the functioning of the sports federations in the country, saying certain aspects of the bill were meant to 'destroy the autonomy' of the board.
BCCI continues to fight the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the implementation of the Decision Review System (DRS). The BCCI has said the DRS in its current form was unacceptable. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat recently called on the stronger cricket boards like Cricket Australia to challenge BCCI on important issues like the DRS.
Unhappy with the treatment meted out to them, Sahara India ended its 11-year-old financial ties with the BCCI and also pulled out of the IPL by withdrawing from Pune Warriors' ownership just hours before the players auction for the fifth edition. Sahara accused the Board of not giving due consideration to its genuine grievances. The board is hoping to resolve the issue amicably.
On May 14, 2012, an Indian news channel aired a sting operation which deceptively caught a person committing some secretive negotiation on television. It caught five players discussing terms and conditions where they would be willing to do spot-fixing. BCCI and the IPL President Rajiv Shukla reacted to the TV news by immediately suspending those five uncapped Indian players: TP Sudhindra from the franchise Deccan Chargers, Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav and Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab) as also Abhinav Bali from Delhi. Mishra admitted to having said that franchises pay black money in a sting operation.
In December 2012, former selector Mohinder Amarnath stoked a fresh controversy by saying that then BCCI chief N Srinivasan interfered in team selection and prevented them from dropping skipper MS Dhoni after India's 0-4 whitewash in the Test series Down Under. Amarnath reportedly had a tiff with K Srikanth as he wanted to replace Dhoni with Virender Sehwag (after India's eight Test losses in England and Australia). The Indian cricket board rubbished the former selector's claim and said it was inappropriate to discuss such matters in public. The cricketer though was dropped from the senior national selection committee after just one year. Srinivasan's response to Amarnath being dropped was, 'We wanted a new-look selection panel.'
