5 player who were victims of franchise politics

The Indian T20 League has been one of the biggest stages in the cricketing world for a cricketer to showcase his talents and come into the limelight overnight. While the tournament has bred some amazing new talents across the years, it has also attracted some of the biggest names in the sport. Since its inception, till now the Indian T20 League has enjoyed the availability of the contemporary greats of the game.

However, the money involved, the emotions of the fans, and the pressure to pick up profits from the league have led the franchises to fall out with some of their players. Mostly it has been the players whose reputation or playing time has been tampered with as a result of a quarrel with the franchise owners. Yet they have continued to take part in the league. Here in this article, we take a look at some of the biggest player-franchise fallouts in the history of the tournament, where the players were disrespected by their franchises

1 .David Warner’s exclusion from Hyderabad squad after captaincy was taken away (2021): David Warner had been the most prolific run-scorer for Hyderabad since ITL 2016. It was under his leadership that they managed to win their maiden ITL-title. But in 2021 a sudden turn of events saw Warner being stripped of the captaincy and then dropped from the squad. The official statement said his omission was on account of him not fitting into the perfect team combination.

However, the move from the franchise seemed illogical given his two 50+ scores and an average of over 30. Well, the loss on their part was evident as they missed Warner’s dynamism at the top and finished at the bottom of the points table. The fans also sympathized with Warner on the development.

2. Sacking of MS Dhoni as the captain of the Pune team ( 2017): MS Dhoni’s legacy as a captain is hailed all over the cricketing world. But in an unfortunate turn of events, MSD was stripped of the captaincy of the Pune team in 2017. This was deemed as a reflection of the poor season the team had under him in 2016 where they finished at the bottom half of the table. The captaincy was taken away from one of the greatest leaders in the game and handed over to Steve Smith.

However, it was later learned that only cricketing reasons were not behind the decision. In an interview later the owner of the team Mr. Sanjv Goenka revealed that he had an uncomfortable time with Dhoni’s conduct as the team captain and his unwanted interference in non-cricketing matters. MSD however, remained unaffected by the development and continued to play for the franchise, showing his professional side.

3. Sourav Ganguly’s sacking as the Kolkata captain (2009): Sourav Ganguly will always be remembered in cricketing history as the captain who brought a revolution to Indian cricket. He was the first-ever captain of the Kolkata team. But under him, the team had a below-par inaugural season in 2008 where they failed to qualify for the knock-out stages of the tournament.

This led the then Kolkata team’s Head Coach John Buchanan with a perplexing multi-captain theory. In a press conference where it was revealed that Ganguly will no longer be leading the team, Buchanan himself seemed confused about the theory. The confusion was evident on the field as Kolkata endured its worst-ever ITL season. However, the incident earned Ganguly even more acclamation among the fans and he was re-instated as the captain in the next season.

4. Glen McGrath benched by Delhi (2009): Glen McGrath, regarded as one of the most accurate pacers in cricketing history played a significant role in Delhi’s amazing run in the inaugural edition of ITL in 2008. But in 2009 the Delhi team’s Indian pace contingent performing above expectations along with Australian Dirk Nannes, saw McGrath being benched for the majority of the tournament.

However, McGrath later expressed his dissatisfaction saying that he was fitter during the season than the previous year. Delhi also had to pay for their decision with a terrible loss against Hyderabad in the semifinals followed by a backlash by their fans.

5. Chris Gayle’s omission from the Bangalore team (2018): In ITL 2017 Chris Gayle had an average season scoring about 200 runs in total. However, he followed it up with brilliant batting exploits in the CPL and hence was under the impression his ITL franchise will retain him. However, in the auction table, Bangalore made little effort in retaining him for the season.

Later, Gayle expressed his dissatisfaction with the franchise for keeping him under the false impression that he will be retained. He was bought by Punjab and scored heavily for them. The Bangalore fans were seen expressing their dissatisfaction over the non-retention of the ‘Universal Boss’.