Kochi Tuskers Kerala Still Owe Money To Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Others: S Sreesanth
New Delhi: Former India pacer S Sreesanth revealed that legends like Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene still owe money from Kochi Tuskers Kerala, an Indian Premier League franchise that got disbanded after just one year into existence. Kochi Tuskers Kerala were one of the two teams added into the league in 2011 after the organizers decided to expand its initial eight franchises after the successful first three seasons. During the auction for two more teams in 2010, Sahara Group made the highest bid for its Pune franchise at a cost of Rs 1702 crore (US$370m). The second-highest bid was made by Rendezvous Sports World for Rs 1533 crores (US$333.2m) who got the Kochi franchise.
However, with an initial promise to stay for three years, Kochi Tuskers Kerala played just the 2011 season before BCCI terminated their contract as it had failed to provide the Indian cricket board the 10 per cent bank guarantee.
“They have to pay a lot of money. You should get Muralitharan sir (Muttiah Muralitharan), you should get Mahela (Jayawardene) and in your show they will only tell you no one has got (money),” Sreesanth revealed in the The Ranveer Show Podcast.
The Indian pacer, who himself got into a match-fixing row in 2013, also urged the franchise owners to honour the players’ commitments since the BCCI has already cleared their dues. “I urge you all, BCCI must have paid you by now. Please honour your commitments to us, even if it means paying with an 18% interest rate annually. The team was meant to last three years, but it was terminated after just one year. I believe this issue deserves more attention,” Sreesanth added.
In their only season of existence, Kochi Tuskers Kerala appointed Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene as captain while Australia’s Geoff Lawson was named as the head coach. Besides Muralitharan and Jayawardene, the other overseas stars in that side include Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Owais Shah and Michael Klinger.
Among the India internationals, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, RP Singh, Sreesanth, R Vinay Kumar and VVS Laxman, played for the side. However, Kochi Tuskers Kerala finished eighth in the 10-team table with six wins from 14 matches.