Kochi Tuskers Kerala was a franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) representing the city of Kochi, Kerala. The team was one of two new franchises added to the IPL for the 2011 season, alongside Pune Warriors India. The team franchise was owned by Kochi Cricket Pvt Ltd., which was a consortium of multiple companies.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala
LeagueIndian Premier League
Personnel
CaptainMahela Jayawardene
CoachGeoff Lawson
OwnerKochi Cricket Pvt Ltd
Team information
CityKochi, Kerala, India
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Dissolved2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Home groundJawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi
Capacity80,000
Secondary home ground(s)Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
Secondary ground capacity30,000

The KTK only played for one season, in 2011, and was terminated the following year.[1][2]

Franchise history

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The auction for expanding the initial eight franchises for the Indian Premier League was held on 22 March 2010. The cities involved were Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Cuttack, Vadodara, Indore and Gwalior. Two new teams were selected out of 12 cities. Sahara Group made the highest bid in the auction and chose to base its team in Pune, at the cost of US$370m (1702 crore).[3] Rendezvous Sports World made the second highest bid of US$333.2m (1533 crores), and elected to base its team in Kochi.[4] The two new franchises were sold for a combined sum greater than the combined purchase price of the original eight franchises.[5]

Team name and home ground issues

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The franchise initially announced that the name of the team would be "Indi Commandos". This led to negative responses worldwide.[6] The franchise management suggested that a move to Ahmedabad was possible, moving the team away from Kochi,[7] due in part to a comparatively high entertainment tax in Kerala (36%).[8] This invoked a mass response on social networks, particularly on Facebook,[9] forcing management to change the team name and logo. A poll on the franchise's official website eventually determined the team name.[10][11] The decision to move the home ground was dropped when the Corporation of Kochi waived 50% of the entertainment tax levee.[12]

Termination from the IPL

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Due to a dispute amongst the team owners, the franchise failed to pay the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise fee which was supposed to be paid before the 2011 season began. The BCCI claimed that it had sent several requests for payment to the franchise owners but received no response.[13] On 19 September 2011, then BCCI president N. Srinivasan announced that the franchise was being terminated because it had failed to provide the bank guarantee.[14] On 14 October 2011, the IPL Governing Council announced that there would be only nine teams participating in 2012 after the Kochi franchise was expelled.[15] The players from the side were auctioned to other franchises in the 2012 IPL player auction. Players who attracted no bids had their salaries covered via the team's bank guarantee from the previous season.[16]

On 13 January 2012, the BCCI asked overseas players who had signed a contract with the franchise to sue the owners, with the BCCI included as a party to each case.[17][18]

In February 2012, Rendezvous Sports World announced that it would take the BCCI to court over its termination from the IPL.[19] In July 2015, a court-appointed arbitrator Justice Lahoti ordered the BCCI to pay 550 crore (US$66 million) as compensation for terminating the franchise agreement. ESPNcricinfo reported that the franchise owners had requested the BCCI to permit the team to return to the IPL, instead of the compensation awarded by the arbitrator.

Team identity

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The team's shirt colours were purple and orange with orange trousers.[20]

External videos
  Signature song of Kochi Tuskers Kerala

The franchise's signature song was composed by veteran film score composer Ouseppachan. The music video for the song was filmed by Priyadarshan and his cinematographer Thiru. The song was shot at various locales including Paravur, Cherraai, Varapuzha backwaters and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It features almost all the leading players in the team as well as Malayalam movie actress Rima Kallingal.[21][22][23]

Seasons

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Indian Premier League

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Year League standing Final standing
2011 8th out of 10 League stage

Result summary

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Overall

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Year Home/Away Matches Wins Loss No Result Win %
2011 Home 7 3 4 0 42.86%
Away 7 3 4 0 42.86%
Total 14 6 8 0 42.86%

By opposition

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Opposition Span Mat Won Lost Tied NR Win %
Chennai Super Kings 2011 2 1 1 0 0 50
Deccan Chargers 2011 1 0 1 0 0 0
Delhi Daredevils 2011 2 1 1 0 0 50
Kings XI Punjab 2011 1 0 1 0 0 0
Kolkata Knight Riders 2011 2 2 0 0 0 100
Mumbai Indians 2011 1 1 0 0 0 100
Pune Warriors India 2011 1 0 1 0 0 0
Rajasthan Royals 2011 2 1 1 0 0 50
Royal Challengers Bangalore 2011 2 0 2 0 0 0

Home grounds

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Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Kochi)

The two home grounds of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala were the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi and Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. Five homes matches were held at Kochi and two at Indore. The Greater Cochin Development Authority completely over-hauled the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to cater for hosting IPL matches.[24]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

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Federal Bank, a major Indian commercial bank in the private sector, with its headquarters in Aluva, Kerala, was the principal sponsor of Kochi Tuskers Kerala.[25] Lotto, an Italian sports goods manufacturer, was the apparel sponsor,[26] V-Guard, an electronics company, and AVT, a tea brand, were the associate sponsors with Elite Foods, Parinee Developers and Anchor Earth are the other main sponsors.

Year Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (front) Shirt sponsor (back) Chest branding
2011 Lotto Anchor Toothpaste/Parinee Developers Federal Bank Parinee Developers/Anchor Toothpaste

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Players still owe 35% of their money earned from Kochi Tuskers: Brad Hodge". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  2. ^ "IPL: Kochi Tuskers Kerala's playing XI in their last match- Where are they now?". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Sahara Pune Warriors' IPL contract terminated by BCCI". Dnaindia.com. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Pune and Kochi to join 2011 IPL". BBC. 21 March 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ Pune, Kochi named new IPL teams, Times of India
  6. ^ "Kochi fans upset with name 'Indi Commandos'. New Zealand in India 2016 News". The Times of India. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. ^ Basu, Indranil (2 March 2011). "IPL 4: Kochi is not right for Kochi". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. ^ IPL in Kochi impossible without tax sops: Vivek Venugopal, Manorama Online
  9. ^ "'IndiCommandos' takes a beating". The Hindu. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  10. ^ Team Kochi fans to vote for an alternate name, NDTV Sports
  11. ^ It's Kochi Tuskers Kerala!, The Hindu
  12. ^ IPL: Kochi Corpn agrees to cut entertainment tax by half, Manorama Online
  13. ^ "Kochi Tuskers seek IPL re-entry after winning arbitration". ESPNcricinfo. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Bombay HC rejects Kochi Tuskers plea against encashing bank guarantee". Business Standard India. Business Standard. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  15. ^ "IPL says no to Pak players; Nine teams to play in 2012". NDTV Sports. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  16. ^ "IPL 2012: Kochi players to be in 2012 auction. Cricket News. Indian Premier League 2012". ESPNcricinfo. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  17. ^ "Kochi's foreign players asked to sue owners". ESPNcricinfo. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  18. ^ BCCI asked foreign Kochi IPL players to sue owners, 20 January 2012
  19. ^ "Kochi Tuskers Kerala". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  20. ^ "18th match: Kochi Tuskers Kerala v Chennai Super Kings at Kochi, Apr 18, 2011. Cricket Commentary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  21. ^ "Priyadarshan to shoot theme song for Kochi IPL". The New Indian Express. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  22. ^ "Priyadarshan shooting theme song for Kochi IPL team". IBN Live. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  23. ^ "Rima Kallingal in Kochi IPL Team theme song". Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  24. ^ "Fixtures, Schedule. Indian Premier League 2011". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  25. ^ "federal-bank-is-kochi-ipl%E2%80%99s-principal-sponsor". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  26. ^ Kochi IPL signs up Lauda as kit sponsor, The Economic Times