Kolkata Knight Riders will face off against SunRisers Hyderabad in today's IPL Qualifier 2. The winner of this match will book their place in the IPL 2018 final and take on Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
A leaked Hotstar video, however, is doing the rounds in which a Kolkata Knight Riders-Chennai Super Kings showdown in the final is shown. Needless to say, the video has been widely shared on social media, prompting questions on whether the cash-rich league has “fixed” the match, and, possibly, the entire tournament.
Many fans had raised their concerns regarding this year's IPL. Results of most matches in IPL 2018 were determined in the last over and sometimes even the last ball. It led many to speculate that the matches were purposely played in a certain way to keep the audience's interest from waning.
In the 2013 edition, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two years after the former's team principal Gurunath Meiyappan was implicated in spot-fixing and betting. Both Chennai Super Kings and
The leaked video gave enough reason for fans to speculate whether this edition too would be marred with such controversies. Twitter erupted with fans wondering if the matches were indeed fixed.
A Twitter user, however, has posted a similar video, but with Chennai Super Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad in the finals.
It is natural for broadcasters to keep a promo video ready days or weeks in advance. In this case, second qualifier is within two days of the first one. The final takes place two days after the second qualifier, thereby giving very little time for broadcasters to make a video and play it up. Thus, there is a chance that two videos were made―one where Chennai Super Kings face Kolkata Knight Riders in the final and the other against SunRisers Hyderabad. Hotstar cannot be blamed for keeping both videos ready.