Abu Dhabi: The 2013 Indian Premier League sent shock waves across the cricketing world when some of the biggest fishes in India’s cricketing circles were caught in the spot-fixing and betting net.

Many heads have rolled since that saga began but even before the dust settles down, new skeletons emerge from the closet and continue to mystify. The recent casualty was the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) N. Srinivasan — shunted out by the law.

It all started after the Delhi Police arrested three Rajasthan Royals (RR) players — S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — during the 2013 IPL on charges of spot-fixing. The players were accused of spot-fixing in their matches on May 9 and 15, 2013, against Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, respectively.

That incident, along with an array of arrests and enquiries, let to the doorstep of the BCCI’s supreme commander. Phone records of small-time actor Vindu Dara Singh, in connection with the spot-fixing probe, revealed that he was in frequent contact with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Team Principal and Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan. CSK immediately disowned Meiyappan fearing his arrest could lead to the termination of the CSK franchise.

The scandal got murkier after the controversial Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf was withdrawn by the ICC from the Champions Trophy in UK for his alleged role in match-fixing.

Royals team co-owner Raj Kundra was also questioned by the Delhi Police for the alleged involvement in illegal betting. Delhi Police claimed he had confessed to placing bets on his IPL team through a bookie who was his friend.

Deccan Chargers, champions of the 2009 Indian Premier League, became the second team to be terminated from the IPL after Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Immediately after the Chargers’ termination, the BCCI invited bidders and Sun TV Network won the bid at Rs850.5 million (Dh51.9 million) per year. The new team was named the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Two-time champions, CSK, was once again a dominant force in the 2013 season with good batting from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and an all-round bowling attack. After an IPL record-equalling seven-match winning streak, they were at the top of the points table.

In their fifth final in six editions, the CSK were, however, blown away by the sheer ferocity of the Mumbai attack, lead by Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson. Chasing 149 for win, the two-time former champions were brought to their knees by an inspired Mumbai outfit who won their maiden title by 23 runs.

Immediately after Mumbai Indians won the IPL title, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket.

Tendulkar, who captained Mumbai to the final in 2010, represented the franchise in 86 matches and finished with 2,529 runs, which included a century and 14 fifties. Tendulkar played his last game for Mumbai against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium on May 13 when he was injured while batting on 38.