Yearender 2021: Virat Kohli’s sacking to Tim Paine ‘sexting’, top controversies in cricket – In Pics

Pakistan Cricket Board was left fuming as New Zealand and England called off their respective tours to the country while citing security threats. It came as a big setback for PCB as it has been trying hard to revive international cricket in the country for the past couple of years. Also, PCB suffered a big financial loss due to the cancelled series.

IPL 2021, which started in India, was suspended mid-way due to Covid-19 outbreak in the teams’ camps. Several members of CSK, KKR, and SRH were tested positive and BCCI had no option but to postpone the tournament indefinitely. However, the tournament resumed couple of months later but it was staged in UAE. Chennai Super Kings eventually lifted the title after beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final.

After taking over reins of Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesperson said that women's sports and women's cricket specifically will be banned by his group in the country.

"In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this," a news channel quoted Ahmadullah Wasiq, the deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission, as saying.

"It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed."

Just weeks before the Ashes series, Tim Paine resigned as Australia Test skipper after it was publically revealed that the wicketkeeper sent sexually explicit text messages to a female former colleague at Cricket Tasmania in 2017. A week later after his captaincy resignation, Paine decided to take an indefinite mental health break from all forms of cricket.

Kohli’s sacking as Team India’s ODI skipper is probably one of the most talked about controversies till now. After his resignation as T20I skipper, Kohli was removed as ODI captain by BCCI without any proper communication. Moreover, the contradicting statements by Kohli and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the batter’ sacking just added to the drama.

The BCCI’s handling of the situation was heavily criticized by Indian cricket fans as in their first official statement, the board didn’t even mention Kohli’s name while announcing that Rohit Sharma will lead the ODI side. And after a day, BCCI thanked Kohli for his contribution as ODI captain.