Top 5 cricket controversies of 2024 ft. Snicko Meter, Virat Kohli vs Sam Konstas in BGT

Cricket was one of the hottest topics of discussion in 2024. Thanks to the T20 World Cup, IPL, Champions Trophy host debate and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, all eyes were on cricket in the year 2024.

India ended their 17-year T20 World Cup trophy drought by capturing the title in June 2024, while the Kolkata Knight Riders crushed the SunRisers Hyderabad in the final to win their first IPL trophy since 2014. After so much back and forth, the PCB remained official hosts of the Champions Trophy, but the Indian team's matches have been shifted to the UAE, and the BGT has been full of controversies.

In this listicle now, we will look at the top five controversial moments from the cricket world in 2024.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs Sam Konstas at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

One of the biggest controversies of the year happened in the Boxing Day Test of 2024 between India and Australia at the MCG. Australia's debutant opener Sam Konstas took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners, racing to his maiden half-century in no time.

Senior Indian player Virat Kohli tried to get under Sam's skin by having a collision with him, leading to a heated exchange of words. Kohli was fined 20 percent of his match fees and handed one demerit point for his behavior.

Plus, the Australian media trolled him by labeling him as a 'clown'. The headline drew enormous criticism from Indian fans and ex-cricketers.

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#2 Snicko meter controversy in BGT 2024-25

Snicko meter has helped the third umpire decide whether the ball has had any contact with the bat. However, in the fourth Test of the BGT series, Yashasvi Jaiswal was adjudged out by the third umpire although there was no clear spike when the ball went past his bat.

The third umpire reversed the on-field call due to a deflection.

Interestingly, in the first Test of the same series, KL Rahul was adjudged out because of a spike on the Snicko meter even though it appeared that Rahul's bat had hit the pad. Both decisions were seemingly made without any conclusive evidence.

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#3 Rohit Sharma vs Star Sports

IPL 2024 was not the best season for Rohit Sharma. Ahead of the tournament, Mumbai Indians replaced him as skipper by bringing Hardik Pandya in via the trade window. Plus, Rohit could not make much of an impact with the bat as well.

However, the incident which created the biggest controversy of the season was Rohit's candid chat with the then Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. Apparently, Rohit was saying 'Ye mera last hai' to Nayar, with fans assuming that the Hitman referred to his future at the Mumbai Indians.

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#4 Did MS Dhoni break a TV after CSK lost to RCB in IPL 2024?

The IPL 2024 league game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru was one of the most-talked about cricket matches of the year. RCB defeated CSK in a thriller and miraculously qualified for the playoffs.

While the match was memorable, what happened after the game grabbed more headlines. CSK veteran MS Dhoni walked back to the dressing room without shaking hands with RCB players as they were busy celebrating their victory. The RCB fans humiliated CSK fans outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

A few months after the game, a cricket journalist claimed that Harbhajan Singh told him Dhoni broke a TV in the dressing room after losing that game. That claim created an enormous controversy on social media, but soon after, CSK's fielding coach called it as 'fake news'.

Both the journalist and Harbhajan clarified that the claim was not accurate as Harbhajan said:

"By the time Team RCB finished their celebration, (Dhoni) went inside and he punched a screen outside the dressing room. I was watching from above but it is okay that every player has his own emotions."

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#5 When Sanjiv Goenka publicly scolded KL Rahul for LSG's defeat

Another controversy emerging from IPL 2024 involves the Lucknow Super Giants team owner Sanjiv Goenka and the team's former skipper KL Rahul. After LSG suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad, the team owner came down near the dugout and scolded Rahul.

The video clips immediately went viral, with fans having mixed opinions regarding it. Some felt Goenka was right to scold Rahul because SRH had chased down a 166-run target in just 9.4 overs, while others opined that such conversations should happen behind closed doors instead of the ground.

Eventually, LSG released Rahul ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. The former LSG captain will play for the Delhi Capitals in the next IPL cricket season.