IPL: A competition courted by controversies

2008 Differences with ECB The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) refused to sign No Objection Certificates permitting its contracted cricketers to play in the IPL's inaugural season. What is essentially a domestic tournament, the IPL's dates coincided with those of the County Championship, which is organised by the ECB. England players, with a few exceptions, continue to skip the annual competition while the two boards still share an awkward equation.

Media restrictions The IPL surprised media outlets when it enforced guidelines on covering matches. They restricted the use of images during the event unless they were purchased from cricket.com, owned by Live Current Media Inc. – who won the rights to such images – and the prohibition of live coverage from the cricket grounds. The IPL was forced to reduce restrictions after the print media protested.

2009 Conflict with CCI The IPL said the winners of the previous edition could choose where finals of the current edition would be held. The Deccan Chargers opted for the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. But the Cricket Club of India told the IPL it would not reserve its pavilion to the league and reserved sole rights even during the match.

2010 Modi suspended Lalit Modi, vice president of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), was dismissed as the IPL commissioner. The IPL, a brainchild of Modi, attracted plenty of bad press over the purchase of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise. Modi had been in a war of words with Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for external affairs in India, over his alleged role in the purchase. Tharoor maintained his innocence, but resigned. And on April 25, Modi was suspended for "alleged acts of individual misdemeanours". He was eventually banned by the BCCI, who later reported several important documents missing from IPL and BCCI offices. "Many of the records are missing. The IT [Income Tax department] is asking for documents.," it said, suggesting foul play on the part of Modi.

2011 Kochi franchise dismissed The BCCI president, announced that Kochi Tuskers were being terminated after the franchise failed to submit a bank guarantee. The consortium that owned Kochi reportedly defaulted on an annual payment of 1.56 billion Indian rupees (Dh104 million).

2012 Bangalore player arrested Luke Pomersbach, the Australian batsman, above, was arrested and charged with molesting a woman and assaulting her fiance after an incident at a hotel in New Delhi. The Royal Challengers Bangalore player was released on bail, but he had to surrender his passport. The case was eventually settled out of court and the charges were dropped.

Ban on Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood superstar whose entertainment company owns a little over 50 per cent stake in the Kolkata Knight Riders, lost his temper when he saw guards allegedly push a group of children, including his daughter, he had brought to a game in Mumbai. Shah Rukh's fight escalated to the point that the 47 year old was banned from the stadium for five years.

Spot-fixing case On May 14, the news channel India TV aired a sting operation that accused five cricketers of being involved in spot-fixing. TP Sudhindra (Deccan), Mohnish Mishra (Pune), Amit Yadav, Shalabh Srivastava (both Punjab) and Abhinav Bali (Delhi) were all immediately suspended.

Drugs at a rave party Rahul Sharma, the Pune Warriors leg-spinner, and his South African teammate, Wayne Parnell, were among 86 people who tested positive for recreational drugs following a rave party held in Juhu, an affluent suburb in Mumbai, on May 20.