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The year 2019 has been nothing short of a spectacle for cricket fans. The year has almost come to an end and here we look at the top 5 cricket controversies in 2019 on and off the cricketing field
1. World Cup Final
The 50 over world cup final was one of the most talked-about events in this year’s cricketing world. The final happened between the two deserving sides of the competition, England and New Zealand. England needed 15 to get from 6 balls. Stokes was on strike with Boult bowling the last over, the first 3 balls went for six runs which included a six, with England now needing 9 runs from 3 balls, England got 6 runs from the 4th ball with the help of 4 overthrows.
When Guptill tried to throw the ball to keeper’s end, where Stokes dived to complete his second run, deflects the ball with his bat towards the long-stop boundary for 4 overthrows. It was completely unintentional from Stokes.
The whole world was shocked to see such an event in the world cup final and the umpires were clueless with the situation that was going on. Eventually, England won the world cup in the super over That 4 overthrows which were deflected with the Stoke’s bat went on to become the talking point all over the world.
2. Dhoni walking on to the field after getting out
This year’s IPL saw some shocking events which left the cricket fans clueless. One such event happened during the CSK vs RR game. CSK took on RR in the 25th match of the season In Jaipur.
Stokes was given the responsibility to defend 18 runs from 6 balls. Jadeja hit the first ball for 6 and after just 2 balls into the over it looked like all but over for RR when CSK needed 9 runs from 4 balls. Stokes then delivered a perfect yorker to get rid of MSDhoni, again the match came to life.
With 9 needing from 3 balls, Santner was the new batsmen and was facing Stokes. Stokes bowled a waist-high full toss. Initially, the straight umpire UlhasGandhegot his arm up which was probably not his call to make (being a no-ball for height), Only to be overruled by the square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford. But Dhoni, who had seen the Umpire’s hand go up, came charging out to question the umpires after getting out the previous ball when the match was hanging in balance. He had a heated argument with the on-field umpires but in the end, it wasn’t called a no-ball. Dhoni, who never loses his cool seemed furious that day and the whole world witnessed a different Dhoni, which was widely criticized by Cricket pundits around the world for Dhoni walking onto the field without any ethics.
3. Dhoni’ Run-out in IPL finals
Another cricket controversy which happened in this year’s IPL was the run-out of MS Dhoni in the finals between CSK and MI. Mumbai won the toss and opted to bat first and posted 149 runs on the board. CSK started well with the bat with Faf and Watson giving a decent start but MI pulled back things after Faf’ wicket and dented CSK’ run chase with regular wickets.
The match was in the balance when this incident happened. CSK had 81 runs on the board, with another 69 runs needed from the last 7 odd overs, it seemed like CSK will go past MI for the first time in the season but in a sudden turn of events, Dhoni was given run out in a controversial manner by the third umpire Nigel Llong. Dhoni was short of his ground in one frame, but several other frames showed that Dhoni’ bat was just inside the crease when the ball had hit the stumps. Dhoni departed for 8-ball 2 runs knock and in the end, CSK lost the match by 1 run.
4. Ashwin Mankaded Buttler
It was just the 4th match of the IPL 2019 when RR took Punjab in Jaipur. Punjab batted first and posted a healthy 184 runs on the board with Chris Gayle top-scoring for them with 47 balls 79 runs. Rajasthan started their chase in a grand manner with Buttler taking on bowlers and reached his 50 in just 29 balls.
It looked very easy for Rajasthan when Buttler and Samson were cruising along, but then this happened. Ashwin came onto bowl the 13th over of the innings and he started appealing to the umpire when he was about the deliver the 6th ball of the over. Ashwin ran out Buttlerat the non-striker’s end since Buttler was backing up too far ahead. Buttler was shocked as he couldn’t believe what was happening there. The Umpire gave Buttler out and Rajasthan lost the game by 14 runs in the end. It was one of the most discussed and criticized cricket controversies.
5. Maxwell taking a break from international cricket due to Mental illness
Glenn Maxwell, who is a world-known cricket celebrity shocked everyone when he announced that he will be taking an indefinite break from cricket as he has some mental health issues in October term psychologist Dr. Michael Llyod said: “ Glenn Maxwell has been experiencing some difficulties with regards to his mental health. As a result, he will spend a short time away from the game, Glenn was proactive in identifying these issues and engaging with support staff”
This news came as a shock for all the cricket fans around the world as this was something new or very rare that a cricketer would open up about his mental health issues. Glenn Maxwell hasn’t announced his return to international cricket yet, he also hasn’t been named in the squad for the Indian One-dayers in January, but he has given his name in the upcoming IPL auction. So it will be interesting to see the timing of his return.
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