Indian Premier League, one of the most popular limited-over tournaments in the world, had kicked off
earlier this summer due to the parliamentary elections and the World Cup 2019. It enthralled and
entertained its loyal fans, as it does every other season. This year’s season, albeit, had been quite
controversial, with certain existing rules being highlighted, and umpiring blunders being committed.
In the league stage of the tournament, there was a mankading incident by Kings XI Punjab's skipper,
Ravichandran Ashwin who had dismissed Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler. This wasn't the first time that
Buttler had been mankaded. Though the method lacks sportsmanship, it is a part of the game's rules.
Cricket experts had mixed opinions on this incident, while many expressing their skepticism for this
bizarre run-out method . Later in other league stage matches, Ashwin was mocked by Virat Kohli and
Shikhar Dhawan for attempting a mankad.

There were few instances where the umpires had failed to spot no-balls. This had resulted in RCB losing
their playoff spot due to an error against Mumbai Indians. What came as a bigger shock to the throng of
fans was MS Dhoni's sudden outburst in Jaipur. The ever-cool captain stormed to the field, and there
ensued an argument with the umpires, for a no-ball being granted and then denied. Fortunately, he was
fined only 50 per cent of his match fee. In the qualifier match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi
Daredevils, the latter team’s leggie Amit Mishra had been dismissed for obstructing the field, which was
surprising.

This year there were poor performance from the Indian stars who usually perform well in IPL. Suresh
Raina, for example, had been consistent in putting a good show for the Chennai Super Kings in the past.
The overall leading batsman had failed to deliver for the team when needed. Unlike the other seasons
the Super Kings had not put an all-round show as most of the matches were anchored by the skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Surprisingly a team with a young set of players had qualified for the qualifier
stage of the tournament. DD had a set of rather inexperienced players but the coaching panel seemed to
be strong, with Ponting and Dada (Ganguly).

As the tournament came to its finale on 12th May, one can surmise that this season involved far more
controversies and nail-biting moments. Every match had the fans on the edge of their seats, especially in
the finals, with MI bagging the trophy against CSK. The most disappointing part of the series however,
was that the Indian skipper Kohli’s team had once again failed to triumph, despite having a good team.
On the brighter side, it brought out several young talents to the limelight.