The confrontation of Lucknow Super Giants’ owner Sanjiv Goenka of skipper KL Rahul after a crushing ten-wicket defeat to the SunRisers Hyderabad on Wednesday has grabbed plenty of eyeballs. As a result, KL Rahul has received plenty of sympathy from the netizens, given how calmly he stood throughout the conversation. However, it is not the first time that IPL owners have indulged in controversy.
Since the inception of the tournament, the tournament has been a breeding ground for controversies, given the enormity of money involved. The consequences of controversies have gone as far as two reputed franchises in Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) facing a two-year ban.
Below are 5 past instances where IPL owners have been involved in controversies:
5) KKR fans unhappy with owners over not bidding for Sourav Ganguly in IPL 2011:
Ahead of the mega auction in 2011, the Kolkata Knight Riders had released Sourav Ganguly and he went down the hammer. However, there were no bidders for him, despite scoring 493 runs in the 2010 edition. An iconic figure in Bengal and fondly known as ‘Dada’, fans threatened to boycott the matches and alleged a political conspiracy.
In 2020, KKR CEO Venky Mysore revealed in an interview that it wasn’t as big a decision for him as he was not emotionally attached to the franchise.
4) Shah rukh Khan banned from Wankhede Stadium:
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan copped a five-year ban from entering the Wankhede Stadium during the 2012 edition as he allegedly misbehaved with a security guard after the match against the Mumbai Indians. The decision came from the MCA, headed by then Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
However, the MCA had lifted the ban in April 2015 by issuing the below statement:
“Today, in the MCA meeting, it was decided that the ban imposed on IPL’s Kolkata franchise owner Shah Rukh Khan should be lifted. With the prior approval of our president Sharad Pawar, it was proposed by me that the ban on him be lifted and the managing committee approved it un.mously. Therefore, the ban on his entry in the Wankhede Stadium has been revoked.”
3) 2013 betting scandal – Raj Kundra and Gurunath Meiyappan:
Former Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra was embroiled in the betting controversy during the 2013 edition as Delhi police revealed that he confessed to betting. It emerged that Kundra’s business-partner-friend Umesh Goenka used to coax team and pitch information from him.
Chennai Super Kings owner Gurunath Meiyappan also came under scrutiny for alleged betting. The Supreme court banned Kundra for life from involving in any cricket-related activity and slapped a two-year prohibition on the Royals. As far as Meiyappan was concerned, the cops ran a thorough check on him, but he was released on bail.
2) Preity Zinta’s alleged abuse of Sanjay Bangar in IPL 2016:
With the Punjab Kings performing poorly in IPL 2016, there was one such instance when co-owner Preity Zinta reportedly lashed out at Sanjay Bangar after their one-run loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Mohali. According to Mumbai Mirror, the Bollywood actress was livid over Bangar’s choice of batting order.
As per the report, Zinta had used the F-word repeatedly as Bangar had sent Farhaan Behardein ahead of Axar Patel to bat. Behardein stayed unbeaten at 9 off 7 deliveries, while Axar didn’t get a chance to bat in pursuit of 175.
1) Parth Jindal-Sanju Samson controversy in IPL 2024:
Delhi Capitals’ owner Parth Jindal courted controversy during his .mated reaction amid the IPL 2024 game against the Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. With Shai Hope taking a brilliant catch at the boundary and Sanju Samson arguing with the umpires over it being a six, Jindal kept shouting ‘Out hai, Out hai’ from the stands.
Jindal later tweeted, stating that Samson hitting the ball cleanly in the middle worried them to no end; hence, the .mated reaction from him.
