11) Kevin Pietersen controversy:
One of the biggest controversies of the year was triggered when ECB sacked the swashbuckling English batsman Kevin Pietersen from the national side after a 5-0 whitewash by Australia in return Ashes.
Upset from this, he launched his autobiography accused many senior players having a bullying culture and said that he was a victim of that culture.
He also targeted the coach Andy Flower, accusing him of building a regime instead of a team.
Alastair Cook hitting back at Pietersen, strongly defended Andy Flower and said KP has tarnished an era of cricket. Flower was believed to be hurt and angered by Pietersen's attack on his legacy and astonished that anyone could accuse him of condoning a bullying culture.
12) 200 years celebration of Lord's cricket ground:
The 200th anniversary of the Lord's Cricket Ground was indeed a special event. With the likes of Warne, Tendulkar, Lara, Dravid, Pietersen, Muralitharan among many others to be involved, the Rest of the World XI vs the Marylebone Cricket Club XI put up enthralling battle at Lord's on Saturday, where MCC emerged winners.
To celebrate the occasion a bicentenary exhibition match was played between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Rest of the World (ROW) team here on 5th July 2014. It was a treat for cricket fans around the world to witness the Sachin Tendulkar-Shane Warne rivalry once again on the field as they were the captains of MCC and ROW respectively.
