Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the franchise that participated in the 2011 edition of the IPL, had been at the centre of many controversies since its inception. This eventually turned out to be the only season for the Tuskers. Due to a dispute among the owners, the franchise failed to pay the 10% bank guarantee of the total franchise fee that it was supposed to pay before the 2012 season began. The BCCI claimed that it had sent several requests for payment to the franchise owners but received no response.
In September 2011, the then BCCI president N. Srinivasan announced that the franchise was terminated by the BCCI because they failed to provide the bank guarantee to cover their annual fee. The franchise’s plea seeking to restrain the BCCI from encashing its bank guarantee of ?1.56 billion was rejected by a single bench of Justice SF Vajifdar.
Rendezvous Sports World announced that it would take the BCCI to court over its termination from the IPL. In July 2015, a court-appointed arbitrator Justice Lahoti ordered the BCCI to pay ?550 crore (US$82 million) as compensation for terminating the Kochi Tuskers franchise agreement. Apart from Brad Hodge, the team included the likes of skipper Mahela Jayawardene, VVS Lax man, Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Following Kochi’s termination, the squad members were placed on auction for the subsequent season. The BCCI even suggested the overseas players to sue the Tuskers. As per reports the players haven’t been paid despite assurances by BCCI officials. It is them who suffered the most because of the legal battle between the Board and the franchise owners.
