Five biggest cricket controversies of 2024

The year 2024 witnessed some high-profile incidents which gripped the attention of the cricket fraternity worldwide. The aftermath of these happenings eventually culminated in some intense discussions between the fans and the cricket experts alike. Be it the Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi’s explosive claims through a podcast to the apex cricket governing body of India aka BCCI coming down hard on cricket stars in the form of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, the year turned out to be quite eventful.

Notably, the BCCI had canceled their central contracts for not taking domestic cricket seriously. This led to questions arising regarding the workload management of taking part in the IPL and the overall team management at the national level. Hence, let us peep into the top five controversies that took the cricket world by storm.

Here are the five cricket controversies that shocked fans in 2024:

5. ICC bans USA's National Cricket League

The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned the future editions of the National Cricket League (NCL) in the USA. This decision was made after the NCL’s non-compliance with ICC rules, particularly regarding player composition and sanctioning standards. The NCL repeatedly violated guidelines requiring seven USA Cricket (USAC) affiliated players per team. Instances of six to seven foreign players per side backed these breaches. Additionally, concerns were raised about substandard pitches, forcing fast bowlers like Wahab Riaz and Tymal Mills to bowl spin to safeguard themselves from injuries.

The league, despite its high-profile ambassadors like Wasim Akram, Vivian Richards, and co-owners Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, struggled operationally. Immigration law violations and cost-cutting on sports visas were estimated at USD 200,000, with several players allegedly entering the USA on invalid visas.

Also Check: ICC bans National Cricket League USA over non-compliance to the playing eleven requirements