Where are these IPL Teams now?

(IPL 2024 Trophy)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been the cricket season for various cricket enthusiasts ever since its start. Every match holds its significance, as the fans are able to watch their favourite teams perform against each other to rank up in the standings. Among these tales of glory and triumph, there are a few teams who have faded away. These are the defunct franchises which had various impressive performances in the IPL tournaments and also created their place among the fans but took down the IPL history. From their inaugural season to their last season, these teams have performed incredibly well, leaving a mark among the IPL fans. Still, for some reasons, ranging from management challenges to financial issues, these teams vanished from the world-famous T20 League. Let's have a look at the history of defunct teams in the Indian Premier League.

1. Deccan Chargers

Deccan Chargers is the only defunct team in the Indian Premier League that has won the IPL title. Gayatri Reddy and T. Venkattram Reddy owned this team, and it has been a part of the IPL since its inaugural season. Adam Gilchrist led the team during the first three seasons of the Indian Premier League, and Rohit Sharma was the vice-captain. They weren't able to perform well in the first season and finished in the 2nd last spot while they won their first trophy in the IPL 2009 season. Kumar Sangakkara led the team in their last IPL season, after which they were marked as defunct by the BCCI.

(Deccan Chargers with the IPL 2009 trophy)

The owners of the franchise had been facing the issue of constant banning of the players, due to which they had to put the franchise on sale before the IPL 2012 season. Later on, the Indian Premier League terminated Deccan Chargers in the month of September 2012 for breaching the terms of the tournament. After this, a bid started for the Hyderabad team, which was won by the Sun TV Network. Therefore, Deccan Chargers was then replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad, which is still a part of the Indian Premier League.

2. Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Kochi Tuskers Kerala was one of the two teams which were added to the Indian Premier League during the 2011 season. Rendezvous Sports World was among the top bidders, and they decided to have a team based in Kochi. This helped in the formation of the team Kochi Tuskers Kerala, which was owned by Kochi Cricket Private Limited. The management faced various challenges while choosing the home ground for the team, as the entertainment taxes were high in Kerala. But in the end, the home ground of the team was chosen to be the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi.

(Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the IPL 2011 season)

They played only one IPL season, finishing at the 8th spot and were terminated in the next season. The main reason behind the termination of Kochi Tuskers Kerala is the disputes among the management and owners of the team. Due to these disputes, the team was not able to pay a 10% bank guarantee, which was to be paid by them to the BCCI before the IPL 2011 season. BCCI also said that they asked for the bank guarantee several times, but the franchise has not responded. As a result, the BCCI President at that time, N. Srinivasan announced that the team Kochi Tuskers Kerala had been terminated due to the failure to pay the bank guarantee.

3. Pune Warriors India

Pune Warriors India, the second team which was introduced in the IPL 2011 season along with Kochi Tuskers Kerala, was also a part of the tournament for a short period. It represented the city of Pune and was owned by Sahara Group Sports Limited, which had the highest bid for the team, i.e., 17.02 billion Indian rupees. The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium was its home ground, as the team made various remarkable moments in the IPL. In three seasons, Pune Warriors India played 46 matches, out of which they were only able to win 12.

(Pune Warriors India in their last IPL match)

One of their matches, which is remembered the most by the fans, is when they conceded 263 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore, including Chris Gayle’s magnificent 175. The team decided to be terminated after the 2013 IPL season due to the financial differences between them and the BCCI. This difference came out due to the valuation of the annual fees to be paid by the franchise, due to which the BCCI terminated them in October 2013. Pune Warriors India played their last IPL match in the 2013 season against Delhi Daredevils.

4. Rising Pune Supergiants

This team was among the two teams, along with Gujarat Lions, which were a part of the IPL 2016 and 2017 seasons, for the replacement of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, which suffered a ban for two years. Along with that, Rising Pune Supergiants also became the second team to represent the city of Pune. This team was owned by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, who is currently the owner of Lucknow SuperGiants in the IPL.

(Steven Smith and MS Dhoni playing for Rising Pune Supergiants)

The team performed well in the IPL 2017 season, finishing as the finalists, where they lost against Mumbai Indians by just one run. This team had a great start to their IPL journey, as they faced Mumbai Indians in their first match of the 2015 season. Fortunately, they were able to get off to a strong start by defeating the defending champions. But then they encountered a losing streak, as they lost four matches consecutively. However, the team regained its form in the 2017 season, where they finished as the runners-up.

5. Gujarat Lions

The second team, along with Rising Pune Supergiants, which was a part of the IPL 2016 and 2017 seasons, was Gujarat Lions. Intex Technologies was the owner of this franchise, which represented the city of Rajkot and had the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium as their home ground. In their first IPL season, Gujarat Lions dominated as they were able to secure 9 wins, which helped them to be at the top of the standings after the league stages. However, they missed the finals after losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore.

(Gujarat Lions in the IPL 2016 season)

Their next season didn't go well, as the team won four out of the 14 matches in the league stages. Later on, the team was marked as defunct from the 2018 season, which also marked the comeback of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. During the IPL 2022 season, Gujarat Giants replaced Gujarat Lions to be among the ten teams present in the tournament.