Five IPL Players Who Were Banned For Bizarre Reasons

Ever since the inception of Indian Premier League in 2008, it has acted as a launchpad for the youngsters. Even for the retired cricketers, the tournament is a means to showcase that they still have it in them. And each competition similar to the IPL has had its share of controversies and disruptions.

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The controversies have resulted in the players or athletes receiving bans or getting suspended for one reason or the other. Pakistan players, who played in the first edition, couldn’t play further due to the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Australia’s David Warner and Steve Smith couldn’t feature in IPL 2018 after Cricket Australia imposed a ban on them due to the sandpaper scandal. And yet, there still exist players who faced bans or suspensions for bizarre reasons.

We take a look at five players who got banned for weird reasons in IPL:

Luke Pomersbach:

Australian batsman Luke Pomersbach had been playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012 and experienced a hot and cold season with them. In total, he played 17 matches in the lucrative league, mustering 302 runs at a strike rate of 122.76.

Things took a turn for the worse when a woman accused the Australian of sexually assaulting her and handing a beating to her fiance. Subsequently, he got arrested by the Delhi police. For this very reason, RCB had banned him from the subsequent games of the season.

A US national had also filed a case on Pomersbach for giving them a blow in their hotel room for which the cops detained him. He received a bail; however, had to surrender his passport.

Mohammad Asif:

Mohammad Asif was one of the best bowlers of his era before his career came to a halt due to his participation in the spot-fixing controversy. Delhi Daredevils roped him in to partner Glenn McGrath that made the team have a deadly fast-bowling combination. Asif possesses a unique skill to move the ball off the pitch as well as in the air.

The Pakistani seamer copped a ban due to the consumption of a drug named Nandrolone, which is prohibited. The drug was found while collecting his urine sample because of which he lost his contract with the franchise consequently. Post the first season; all Pakistan players were barred from participating in the league which made 2008 the only season in which Asif featured.

Ravindra Jadeja:

Ravindra Jadeja is one of the many players who made his name under Shane Warne as their mentor. The then coach and captain Shane Warne took him under his wings in the draft after the U-19 World Cup 2008 and played for Rajasthan Royals, delivering promising performances.

However, it came into light that the Saurashtra all-rounder was in talks with other teams for higher pay, something which defied the league’s terms and conditions. Jadeja also bargained about his fees with not only Rajasthan Royals but also the other teams. And it became a reason why Jadeja couldn’t play in 2010.

Pravin Tambe:

Pravin Tambe was the one who genuinely justified the saying “age is just a number”, having been picked up by the Rajasthan Royals in 2013 at the age of 42. The leg-spinner also had the goods to back up his inclusion, picking up 15 wickets in 2014 for Rajasthan. Post that; he also picked up 28 and 33 wickets for Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

And even at the age of 48 in 2019, Tambe received a bid from Kolkata Knight Riders for the thirteenth season. However, BCCI put a moratorium on his participation for a strange reason. The veteran made an appearance in the T10 league in 2018 after retiring from the sport. However, he came out of retirement to play in Mumbai T20 league and proceeded to put his name in the IPL auction.

As per the regulations from the Indian cricket Board, an active cricketer cannot participate in a foreign tournament without having their permission. The BCCI had no knowledge about his withdrawal about his retirement and T10 participation, thereby ruling him out of the competition.

Harbhajan Singh:

The inaugural edition of the cash-rich league witnessed one of the most bizarre incidents when Harbhajan Singh slapped S Sreesanth on the field. The former featured for Mumbai Indians that time while the latter belonged to Kings XI Punjab back then.

After the two sides’ clash on the field, handshakes transpired between them while the Kerala speedster copped a slap from the Punjab spinner after the former go to his nerves during the encounter. Harbhajan received fines for his actions as well as suspensions. Along with this, BCCI also suspended him for five ODIs.

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