Gujarat Lions coach Brad Hodge has requested compensation for the players who had represented Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the Indian Premier League. Following BCCI’s decision to reimburse Indian seamer Mohammed Shami, the 41-year-old took to Twitter and asked for a similar option to members of the now defunct franchise.
Earlier, BCCI paid INR 2,23,12,500 to Shami citing “Loss of pay for IPL season 2015 due to injury.” The pace bowler was sidelined from the 2015 edition of the IPL due to a knee injury which he picked up during the Adelaide Test in Australia. However, he played through the World Cup by braving the pain and was instrumental in India reaching the semi-finals.
Putting forth his views, Hodge posted a tweet which read, “I see Mohammed Shami got compensated for injury during IPL in 2015 from BCCI. Any chance they can compensate the Kochi tuskers players.”
Kochi Tuskers Kerala made their debut in the 2011 edition of the IPL and finished eighth among ten teams. However, they were terminated on September 19 on account of failure to provide the necessary bank guarantee to cover annual fee.
Having been bought for USD 425,000, Hodge was the leading run scorer for the club with 285 runs from 14 matches. Some of his leading team-mates include skipper Mahela Jayawardene, VVS Laxman, Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Following Kochi’s termination, the squad members were placed on auction for the subsequent season. Hodge went to Rajasthan Royals for USD 180,000 in the 2012 auction, less than half of his previous edition’s bid.
Those who went unsold had their salaries drawn from the team’s bank guarantee for the preceding season. BCCI even suggested the overseas players to sue Kochi Tuskers on January 2012.
After a long legal battle, Kochi Tuskers finally got some relief when the court-appointed arbitrator Justice Lahoti directed BCCI to pay INR 550 crore for terminating the franchise. Though there were murmurs amidst senior board officials to allow the club to make a way back into the league, no concrete developments took place.
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