While several teams joined and left the tournament, this was the only team that participated in only one edition
Be it franchise cricket or club football, running a team is incredibly hard, and it is not everyone's cup of tea. A huge amount of money is involved, and there are several laws and regulations that a team must follow to stay alive. Not to forget, good performance and positive results on the field are also needed.
Unfortunately, none of the above worked in their favour for Kochi Tuskers Kerala. In the Indian Premier League's (IPL) history, several teams have gone defunct, but the Tuskers were the only one that disappeared after merely one season and majority of new-gen fans probably do not even know or remember that this team existed.
In 2011, the league decided to add two more new teams. Several cities were allowed to participate, but the Sahara Group won the bid and chose Pune as its base city.
Rendezvous Sports World made the second highest bid, i.e., INR 1,553 crores, and made Kochi its base. To represent the state, the team was named Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
However, from the very beginning, there was an issue with the management.
Initially, the team was supposed to be called Indi Commandoes, but the name received negative responses. Later, when the team fixed its base in Kochi, internal management fought to change the base to Ahmedabad because the entertainment tax in Kerala was high.
Social media users, especially those from Kerala, did not like the idea, so the management finally ran a poll on their website. Kerala received the highest votes from the fans, and so did the name 'Kochi Tuskers Kerala'—the team finally had a name.
Every IPL franchise is required to pay the IPL committee a bank guarantee of 10 per cent as a franchise fee. In 2011, the fee was INR 155.3 crores, which Kochi Tusker Kerala defaulted on.
Several notices were sent, but the team management did not heed the request. Ultimately, in September 2011, BCCI decided to expel Kochi from the league, which meant they were not allowed to participate in 2012 and so on.
While BCCI said that Kochi did not comply with the rules, the team went to court, stating that BCCI broke the contract. Who is correct or incorrect? We do not know, but ultimately, the court ordered BCCI to pay the franchise compensation of crores exceeding three figures.
Multiple reports claim that the team had asked BCCI to allow them to get back into IPL instead of the compensation, but that route did not work out.
Over the years, it has become incredibly hard to determine who was correct and who was incorrect. However, last year, former India cricketer Sreesanth claimed that the team had not paid the promised amount to the players despite receiving the compensation from BCCI.
On 'The Ranveer Show', Sreesanth claimed, "They have to pay a lot of money. Please pay us...anyway whenever you're paying, remember the 18% interest every year. The team was supposed to be three years, and the team got terminated in the first year. I think no one has spoken about it. Even now when the players meet, they talk about it."
Even former Australia cricketer Brad Hodge had once posted, "Players are still owed 35% of their money earned from ten years ago from the @IPL representing Kochi Tuskers. Any chance @BCCI could locate that money?"
Last but not least, even on the field, it was a horror show from Kochi Tuskers Kerala, as the team finished eighth by securing only 12 points in 14 games despite having some of the top cricket talents.
