2013 Year in Review: The biggest cricket controversies of the year

The Story of Tampered Matches:

The tainted trio

Spot-fixing plagued an otherwise interesting IPL season with three Indian players from Rajasthan Royals emerging to be the sport’s most distasteful antagonists. S. Sreesanth, the hero of the 2007 T20 World Cup final, was the man who infamously signalled to the bookies about fixed deliveries by tucking a white towel into his pants. It didn’t take for the incident to mushroom into bigger mire involving not just underworld elements, but also prominent names associated with administrative giants of Indian cricket.

The See-sawing Drama of Indian Cricket:

BCCI…like a boss

In the days and months following the unveiling of the spot-fixing incident, the entirety of Indian cricket found itself grappling with unsavoury sneak-peaks into its administrative side. The BCCI saw its reputation hanging in tatters even as some stubborn men wielding power refused to sidestep in the wake of the blighting home-truths. Even now, as the BCCI slowly tries to regain its pride of place in the international cricketing framework, these less-than-favourable happenings continue to loom in the minds of the Indian cricket fans.

The Reviewing System that was a Flop Show:

DRS – the Flop show

ICC’s brainchild UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System) saw a glaring number of loopholes emerge in its limited usage especially during the first Ashes leg. Hawk-eye and Hot Spot failed to bring an end to the chaos that only increased in each match with players and officials debating about the veracity of the on-field decisions aided by technology. The upheaval caused by UDRS led to quite a few noteworthy alternations that have given the sport a much-needed respite from technological glitches.