Tracing the journey of all defunct teams in IPL history

We are little more than a day away from the commencement of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League. The biggest Twenty20 league is all set to begin tomorrow (7th April) with two of the most successful teams in the tournament history, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, going head-to-head in the opening match at Mumbai. Fans will be excited to see former champions Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back at the tournament after serving their two-year bans

Ever since its inception in 2008, a total of 13 teams have played at the IPL. However, only 8 of them will be taking part this year. The other five teams played a few seasons before being dissolved. So without any further ado, let’s take a look at the journey of all the defunct teams in IPL history.

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#1 Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011)

The Kochi Tuskers Kerala were one of the two new franchises added to the fourth season of the IPL. The team comprised of Mahela Jayawardene who was the captain, VVS Laxman, Brendon McCullum, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brad Hodge and Ravindra Jadeja.

KTK made their IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kochi, which they lost courtesy AB de Villiers' knock of 54. They lost their second match as well before winning their next three matches that included chasing down 183 to beat the Mumbai Indians.

Following their three-match winning streak, KTK's performances began to be inconsistent and they ended the tournament in 8th position out of the 10 teams. Kochi Tuskers Kerala were later terminated by the BCCI for breaching the terms and conditions of the league. According to the conditions, the franchise owners had to pay a 10% bank guarantee of the annual franchise fee of INR 1550 crore. However, due to a dispute between the owners, the franchise did not pay despite BCCI asking them to do so on several occasions.

#2 Deccan Chargers (2008-2012)

The Deccan Chargers are the only defunct team who have won the IPL

Bought by the Deccan Chronicle, the Deccan Chargers were one of the favourites to win the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Their squad boasted of players like Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Symods Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas and a young Rohit Sharma. The team was led by VVS Laxman.

However, they were a complete disappointment as they ended the tournament at rock bottom. The Chargers won only 2 out of their 14 matches and lost all of their final 7 games. The Deccan Chargers were at the receiving end of the highest run-chase in IPL history against the Rajasthan Royals.

In the second season at South Africa, Deccan Chargers surprised everyone by winning the title. After winning their first four games, they barely managed to qualify for the semi-finals where they beat favorites Delhi Daredevils, thanks to skipper Adam Gilchrist's innings of 85. In the final, they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs. Gilchrist was adjudged the Player of the Tournament while RP Singh was the highest wicket-taker.

In the third season, the Chargers began well by winning three of their first four matches. However, they lost five matches in succession and were at the brink of elimination. They then stunned everybody by winning their final five games and qualifying for the semi-finals. They lost to eventual winners Chennai Super Kings before losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the third-place playoff. In this match, Deccan Chargers scored 82, which was the tournament's lowest total till then.

IPL 2011 saw Deccan Chargers having a new captain in Kumar Sangakkara. The tournament turned out to be a disappointment as they ended 7th with 6 wins and 8 defeats. They ended on a high though with 3 successive wins.

IPL 2012 was a much bigger disappointment compared to 2011 as the Chargers ended 8th out of the 9 teams with just 4 wins, 11 defeats and a no-result. The abandoned match against Kolkata Knight Riders prevented them from ending last.

A few months after the end of IPL 2012, the Deccan Chargers were terminated by the BCCI for breach of contract terms. The franchise owners had put the team up for sale but they declined the sole bid. The Deccan Chargers remain the only IPL winning franchise to have been terminated.

#3 Pune Warriors India (2011-2013)

Pune Warriors India were among the bottom two teams during all of their three appearances at the IPL

Owned by Subrata Roy, Pune Warriors India was one of the two new franchises added to the fourth season of the IPL. The team was led by Yuvraj Singh and had the likes of Graeme Smith, Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Mitchell Marsh. However, PWI lost a couple of key players like Ashish Nehra, John Hastings and Steve Smith before the start of the tournament.

Pune Warriors India had a brilliant start to IPL 2011 by winning their first two matches. However, this was followed by six consecutive defeats. The team roped in Sourav Ganguly and won a couple of matches but it was a case of too little too late for them and they ended their maiden IPL season in 9th position.

For IPL 2012, PWI had Sourav Ganguly as their skipper as Yuvraj Singh was still recovering from his bout of cancer. They had Nehra and Smith back for the tournament. Pune boycotted the auction but signed a few players outside the auction like Marlon Samuels, Luke Wright, Michael Clarke and Tamim Iqbal. They began the tournament in a manner similar to 2011 as they won their first two matches, the first of which was an unexpected win against Mumbai Indians.

PWI won two of their next five games and were looking at a decent position with 4 wins from 7 matches. However, they lost all of their remaining nine games and ended the tournament in last position.

For the 2013 season, PWI roped in Aaron Finch, Ajantha Mendis and Ross Taylor and had Yuvraj Singh back. They began poorly by losing their first two matches but won two of their next three matches. This was followed by another 9-match losing streak. However, PWI ended the season by winning their final two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils. They ended the tournament in 8th position above Delhi Daredevils.

Two days after their final match, Pune Warriors India pulled out of the IPL due to financial differences with BCCI.

#4 Rising Pune Supergiant (2016-2017)

Rising Pune Supergiant were last year's runners-up

Rising Pune Supergiant was the replacement for Chennai Super Kings for two seasons after the two-time champions were banned along with the Rajasthan Royals due to match-fixing. The team was named Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL 2016 and was led by MS Dhoni with the likes of Steve Smith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane and Kevin Pietersen in their setup.

They began the tournament well by defeating reigning champs Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener. However, this was followed by four successive defeats and injury blows to a number of key players like Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis and Kevin Pietersen.

RPS were unable to make the playoffs but ended the season on a high by winning their final two matches against Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. The victories prevented them from ending last.

For the 10th season of the IPL, RPS bought England all-rounder Ben Stokes for a whopping amount of INR 14.5 crore. They also signed Kiwi player Lockie Ferguson and Aussie Dan Christian. Steve Smith was appointed captain for the season.

The team renamed itself to Rising Pune Supergiant but they began almost similarly to 2016 as they beat Mumbai Indians in their first game but then lost three matches on the trot.

However, they came back exceptionally well, winning 8 of their remaining 10 games. RPS thus ended second in the league stage and reached the playoffs. They defeated Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier to reach the final.

In the final, RPS were up against Mumbai Indians again. However, they agonisingly fell short by a run. With Chennai Super Kings set to return for IPL 2018, Rising Pune Supergiant was dissolved.

#5 Gujarat Lions (2016-2017)

Gujarat Lions topped the league table in IPL 2016

Gujarat Lions was Rajasthan Royals' replacement for IPL 2016 and 2017. Suresh Raina was appointed the team's captain and they had a strong side containing the likes of Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo.

GL began IPL 2016 brilliantly by winning their first three games against Kings XI Punjab, Rising Pune Supergiant and Mumbai Indians. Aaron Finch was adjudged the Man of the Match on all three occasions. Unfortunately, they were on the receiving end of the then-highest margin of victory in IPL history as they were thumped by RCB by 144 runs.

Gujarat Lions eventually topped the table at the end of the league stage with 9 wins and 5 losses. With a net run rate of - 0.374, Gujarat Lions are the only team in IPL history who has topped the league stage with a negative net run rate. Only bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab had a lower net run rate than Gujarat Lions.

In the first qualifier against RCB, Gujarat Lions were looking set to win the match, having reduced the rival team to 68/6. However, a partnership of 90 between AB de Villiers and Iqbal Abdullah took the match away from GL and RCB reached the final. The Lions had another chance to reach the final by playing the second qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad . However, a 58-ball 93 by David Warner eliminated Gujarat Lions from the tournament.

Gujarat Lions began IPL 2017 with two successive losses before registering their first win against Rising Pune Supergiant where Andrew Tye took a hat-trick. Their performance during the remainder of the league stage was underwhelming and they ended the tournament in 7th position with 4 wins and 10 losses. The only positive for the Lions was Suresh Raina who ended the tournament as the 5th highest run-scorer. With Rajasthan Royals set to return for IPL 2018, Gujarat Lions was dissolved.