This IPL season was supposed to be clean. After the spot-fixing and betting saga of 2013, a committee appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the scandal suspended two franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, for two years in 2015.
So after a year of cleaning out the closet, the IPL was back in April with all its glitz, glamour, new teams and new, colourful jerseys. And for more than a month, the tournament steered clear of any controversy. But then, bam! Enter Ravi Shastri.
A video has been doing the rounds on social media where the coin toss of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab on May 4 appears slightly dubious. After KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir tosses the coin, Shastri, in his booming voice, announces that Punjab captain Murali Vijay has called heads.
As the coin lands, the match referee Amit Sharma says it's tails, meaning Vijay has lost the toss. However, he points to Vijay as the winner. The two skippers awkwardly look at each other, before Shastri turns to Vijay and congratulates him.
For all you know, Shastri may not have heard Vijay correctly and the match referee may have done well to step in and point to the winner. Nor did it affect the result, as Punjab ended up losing despite "winning" the toss. But that did not stop some Twitter users from arriving at their own conclusions:
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!