The Indian Premier League is considered to be the ‘holy grail’ among all the professional T20 leagues. Ever since its inception back in 2008, it has garnered a lot of attention. Money, cheerleaders, and elite players combined into one league was bound to change the scenery of world cricket.
IPL has changed the lives of many cricketers, who have used it as a platform to reach the International level. With its widespread fame, however, came its fair share of controversies. Some of them turned out to be grave enough for BCCI to ban the players.
Here we have a look at 7 such players, who were banned from the IPL:
1) Ravindra Jadeja
Back when Ravindra Jadeja was part of the Rajasthan Royals set-up, he was still a newcomer trying to make a name at the highest level. He became a strong player under Shane Warne, following successful performances in their games. Unfortunately, greed got the better of him.
The Saurashtra player was accused of violating the IPL rules by negotiating with other teams for higher pay. The authorities, after making necessary inquiries, unanimously agreed to ban him for 12 months.
“The ban was on account of Ravindra Jadeja not signing the renewal contract with the Rajasthan Royals and attempting, instead to negotiate a larger financial contract with some of the other IPL franchises. Thus, resulting in a serious non-adherence to the IPL player guidelines,” the IPL body had said in a statement.
2) Luke Pomersbach
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player Luke Pomersbach was arrested for allegedly molesting an American woman and severely beating up her fiance. This allegation provoked a strong reaction from Vijay Mallya, who suspended the batsman till he’s cleared of the charges.
The victim claimed that the player invited himself for some drinks with the couple and some common friends from Mumbai. She left the men alone and went to her bedroom for catching some sleep but Luke followed her and misbehaved with her.
In the end, however, the case was settled and Luke’s charges were dropped. He made a comeback to the IPL a year later, which incidentally was his last appearance.
3) Mohammad Asif
The Pakistan fast bowler’s cricketing career has been filled with controversies. He was found guilty of bowling deliberate no-balls and was banned from Cricket for five years. Even before that, he was embroiled in a drug test controversy.
Asif was detained at Dubai airport for 19 days in June 2008 after 0.24 grams of opium were found in his wallet. After being deported to Pakistan, he was told he had also failed the IPL drug test. He had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone during the opening season of the IPL.
Eventually, he ended up playing just one season. Following the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, the Pakistan government refused permission for its players to play in the IPL.
4) Harbhajan Singh
The Punjabi off-spinner has been involved in two major controversies, the Monkey-gate scandal in Australia and the slap-gate scandal in IPL. The latter, which involved S Sreesanth, resulted in his suspension from the remainder of the season.
“Sreesanth was the third player that he met after the match. Instead of shaking his hand he actually slapped him and continued down the line, shaking hands with the other players,” the then-commissioner of IPL, Lalit Modi had said in a statement.
Harbhajan also faced separate charges from the BCCI, which asked him to explain his role in the altercation. After he was found guilty, the Indian board subsequently banned Harbhajan for five ODIs.
5) David Warner
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper, David Warner, was arguably the most impactful foreign player in IPL history. He led them to the title in 2016, after finishing as the second-highest run-getter behind Kohli. A couple of years later, however, modern cricket’s possibly biggest controversy happened.
As it was called, the sandpaper gate saw the ban of three Australian players, Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Following a statement from the BCCI, David Warner was banned from IPL 2018 with immediate effect.
“The BCCI hopes that the cricketers participating in the IPL hold the highest regard for the Spirit of Cricket and Code of Conduct for Players and Match Officials,” the release read further.
6) Steve Smith
Steve Smith, alongside David Warner, was the highest-paid foreign player in the tournament, with a 12-cr package in their kitty. Smith was the captain of the Rajasthan Royals until he was banned from international cricket following his involvement in the sandpaper-gate.
The talismanic Australian batsman’s failure to rein in his players from committing ball-tampering resulted in his fall from grace. He was the skipper of the team in the match against South Africa, where Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using a foreign object on the ball.
The international ban was subsequently met with a ban from 2018 IPL. Smith stepped down from his position as the leader of Rajasthan. BCCI however, allowed the franchise to bring in a replacement for Smith.
7) Pravin Tambe
Pravin Tambe, one of the oldest players in the IPL, was barred from competing in IPL 2020 because he failed to meet the criteria set by the BCCI. The 49-year-old was bought by KKR at the 2020 auction for his base price of 20 lakhs.
Tambe had participated in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. However, according to the guidelines set by the BCCI, non-retired Indian players cannot take part in overseas leagues without permission beforehand.
Tambe was involved with the Sindhis and Northern Warriors in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the T10 respectively. This was a violation of BCCI’s policy and he was consequently banned from participating in IPL 2020.