The Kochi Tuskers Kerala were an IPL franchise team for a brief period. They were one of two new franchises add to the IPL for the 2011 season, Pune Warriors India being the other. Unlike the Warriors, the Tuskers only lasted a year before being terminated under circumstances that were later judged to have been illegal.
In March 2010, the auction was held to expand the IPL beyond its original base of eight teams. Two new franchises were to be added from the 12 competing bids. Rendezvous Sports World, which represented a consortium of interest, submitted the second highest offer and were accepted.
They chose to base their new team in Kochi, Kerala.
The original intention was to call the team Indi Commandos, which was met with near-universal negativity among the fans. The owners also briefly toyed with moving the side to Ahmedabad because of the high entertainment tax in Kerala, only to hastily back down after a furious public backlash.
When the team did finally take to the field, they won six out of their 14 matches, finished eighth out of ten teams, and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, a dispute among the team owners meant that the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise fee which was supposed to be remitted before the 2011 season began, remained unpaid.
The BCCI claimed that it had sent several requests for payment. When they received no response, they wasted no time in acting. In September 2011 the franchise was officially terminated, and players from the team were auctioned off to other sides in the league. Those who went unsold had their salaries covered by the bank guarantee paid the previous year.
The franchise owners took the BCCI to court, alleging that their termination from the IPL was illegal.
In 2015, after several years dragging through the legal system, an arbitration tribunal agreed with them and the BCCI were ordered to pay INR 1,700 crores in compensation plus interest of 18 percent per annum. The BCCI appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of India, who upheld the decision of the panel.
Despite that, IPL cricket has not returned to Kerala to this day. Fans there must watch the tournament on television like the rest of the country.