The Indian Premier League (IPL) has had its fair share of controversy for on-field and off-the-field actions. The glamorous cash-rich league in the 2011 edition added two more franchises – Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. The Kerala-based franchise had a short stint filled with controversies. It is the only franchise in IPL history that lasted just one season as it failed to provide the bank guarantee for franchise fees to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Before getting kicked out of IPL, the franchise was in the news for its connection to Congress politician Shashi Tharoor and his late wife Sunanda Pushkar. In 2010, when Sunanda had not tied the knot with Tharoor and the two were dating, she had been given sweat equity worth Rs 70 crore in IPL Kochi franchise Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd (RSWPL).
There were allegations that Sunanda was acting as his proxy and he misused his office to get a free stake in exchange for the winning bid he provided to the IPL Kochi team.
However, Tharoor could not convince the UPA government that he had nothing to do with the IPL franchise. ED report He had to resign as Minister of State for External Affairs.
In 2012, Sunanda and Tharoor were grilled for a few hours by the Mumbai Enforcement Directorate (ED). While Sunanda’s statement included the aforementioned Rs 70 crore, Tharoor did not mention it.
While he denied helping Kochi in the bidding process, he said, “As far as the extent of the mentorship is concerned, it was important for him to be supportive enough of their efforts so that in the event they won the bid, the political benefits would accrue to him.”
Later, Tharoor met the owners of the team once or twice after giving up his ministerial position. On the other hand, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi said that he received several calls from Tharoor and his secretary Jacob after the deadline to accept the third bid. When he denied it, Tharoor threatened to take the matter to the president.
Kochi Tuskers’ only IPL season
Kochi Tuskers Kerala had a forgettable season under the leadership of Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene. Despite having big names like Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, and others in their ranks, they managed to win six out of 14 matches and finished eighth on the points table.
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