Rajasthan successfully defending their Ranji Trophy title and another tumultuous Indian Premier League season marked the domestic cricket scene this year, while a clutch of changes were introduced in the national championship.
Rajasthan defeated favourites Tamil Nadu in a drab final in Chennai. And soon after the season was over, the BCCI held its captains and coaches' conclave to seek their opinions in improving the domestic structure. Based on their inputs and its own assessment, the Sourav Ganguly-headed Technical Committee (Ganguly later in the year was replaced by Anil Kumble as the committee's chairman) recommended a slew of measures, including a change in format of Ranji Trophy. How effective the new structure is will be known only after the conclusion of the ongoing season.
Another domestic tournament, but very much international in its nature - the IPL - regained its lustre after a dip in popularity the previous year. The edition also threw up new champions in Kolkata Knight Riders, who ended Chennai Super Kings' two-year reign at the top. As much as it drew attention for its on-field exploits, the keenly-contested T20 tournament also hit headlines for some wrong reasons.
The involvement of Royal Challengers Bangalore's recruit Luke Pomersbach in a drunken brawl at a Delhi hotel, Rahul Sharma (Pune Warrior) being taken into custody along with South Africa's Wayne Parnell for alleged drug abuse at a rave party and more startlingly, an India TV sting operation, which exposed spot-fixing claims in domestic leagues and the alleged under-the-table dealings between players and the franchisees, rocked the scene.
The investigations by the BCCI into the expose led to life ban on Madhya Pradesh and Deccan Chargers' paceman TP Sudhindra. Kings XI Punjab player Shalabh Srivastava was handed five-year suspension while Mohnish Mishra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali were slapped with one-year bans.
The IPL V itself had kicked off on a wrong note when the Sahara Group-owned Pune Warriors pulled out of the players' auction at the last moment, citing 'injustice.' With their captain Yuvraj Singh unavailable as he was getting treated for cancer, Warriors wanted certain exemptions from auction rules to which the BCCI didn't agree. Backroom negotiations, however, paved the way for Pune's debut as an IPL venue. The Sourav Ganguly-led side, though, did little of note in the league, bringing up the rear.
The IPL was once again mired in controversy when a cash-strapped Deccan Chargers failed to pay players' salaries. After a prolonged legal battle, the BCCI terminated Chargers' contract and floated new tenders for the Hyderabad franchise. Chennai-based Sun TV Network successfully bid for it to win the team and renamed it Sunrisers.
Rajasthan defeated favourites Tamil Nadu in a drab final in Chennai. And soon after the season was over, the BCCI held its captains and coaches' conclave to seek their opinions in improving the domestic structure. Based on their inputs and its own assessment, the Sourav Ganguly-headed Technical Committee (Ganguly later in the year was replaced by Anil Kumble as the committee's chairman) recommended a slew of measures, including a change in format of Ranji Trophy. How effective the new structure is will be known only after the conclusion of the ongoing season.
Another domestic tournament, but very much international in its nature - the IPL - regained its lustre after a dip in popularity the previous year. The edition also threw up new champions in Kolkata Knight Riders, who ended Chennai Super Kings' two-year reign at the top. As much as it drew attention for its on-field exploits, the keenly-contested T20 tournament also hit headlines for some wrong reasons.
The involvement of Royal Challengers Bangalore's recruit Luke Pomersbach in a drunken brawl at a Delhi hotel, Rahul Sharma (Pune Warrior) being taken into custody along with South Africa's Wayne Parnell for alleged drug abuse at a rave party and more startlingly, an India TV sting operation, which exposed spot-fixing claims in domestic leagues and the alleged under-the-table dealings between players and the franchisees, rocked the scene.
The investigations by the BCCI into the expose led to life ban on Madhya Pradesh and Deccan Chargers' paceman TP Sudhindra. Kings XI Punjab player Shalabh Srivastava was handed five-year suspension while Mohnish Mishra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali were slapped with one-year bans.
The IPL V itself had kicked off on a wrong note when the Sahara Group-owned Pune Warriors pulled out of the players' auction at the last moment, citing 'injustice.' With their captain Yuvraj Singh unavailable as he was getting treated for cancer, Warriors wanted certain exemptions from auction rules to which the BCCI didn't agree. Backroom negotiations, however, paved the way for Pune's debut as an IPL venue. The Sourav Ganguly-led side, though, did little of note in the league, bringing up the rear.
The IPL was once again mired in controversy when a cash-strapped Deccan Chargers failed to pay players' salaries. After a prolonged legal battle, the BCCI terminated Chargers' contract and floated new tenders for the Hyderabad franchise. Chennai-based Sun TV Network successfully bid for it to win the team and renamed it Sunrisers.