Gatecrashing Sachin’s party to Gayle’s fury. Remembering ‘Tuskers’, Kerala’s forgotten IPL team

A fresh season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin. Ten franchises will play the 18th season of the two-month league, starting March 22, with almost every big name in men's cricket set to entertain an ever-growing fanbase.

The southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have two of the most popular franchises in Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) respectively. But the state they sandwich, Kerala, will roll into another IPL season without a team of its own.

But it wasn't always the case; for one season, IPL-4 to be exact, Kerala was part of the big league. A franchise called Kochi Tuskers Kerala emerged in 2010, played the 2011 season, and then vanished. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminated its contract after a consortium that owned the franchise failed to pay the 10% bank guarantee of its franchise fee.

IPL 2025 has four Kerala-based players namely Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals captain), Vishnu Vinod (Punjab Kings), Sachin Baby (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Vignesh Puthur (Mumbai Indians).

But it was the Tuskers that gave the first opportunity to uncapped Malayalis. Pacer S Sreesanth, Kerala's most accomplished cricketer, was part of the IPL since its inaugural edition in 2008. The Tuskers signed him up, along with three uncapped Malayalis - all-rounder Raiphi Vincent Gomez, left-arm pacer Prasanth Parameswaran and left-arm spinner Prasanth Padmanabhan.

The Tuskers had an eventful debut season, filled with many heartbreaks and memorable performances. They played their home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, the home of Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters Football Club. Let's revisit the Tuskers' first and only IPL season.

The beginning
The Tuskers had a home game to start their IPL campaign, but it wasn't the best of beginnings. South African great AB de Villiers gave a batting masterclass with an unbeaten 54 as RCB beat the Tuskers by six wickets. Regardless, it was a memorable outing for local lad Raiphi, a medium pacer, who removed Saurabh Tiwary to get his first IPL wicket. A few days later, the Tuskers lost to Pune Warriors by four wickets to make it two defeats in a row.

Spoiling Sachin's big day
The Tuskers secured their first win against the mighty Mumbai Indians at the iconic Wankhede. For what it is worth, not only did they upset one of the favourites, they ruined the evening for a giant of the game, Sachin Tendulkar. The master blaster had scored a brilliant century, his first in Twenty20 cricket.

But Brendon McCullum (81) and captain Mahela Jayawardene (56) added 128 for the first wicket as the Tuskers chased down MI's 182/2 to win by eight wickets. Yet again, Raiphi got a wicket, that of uncapped South African Davy Jacobs.

Hat-trick of wins
That was the start of a run of three wins in a row, comprising victories against M S Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders. Brendon McCullum was the star with a 33-ball 47 as the Tuskers chased down CSK's modest 131/4 in 15 overs with seven wickets in hand. Raiphi continued his good start with the ball by trapping Bradinath leg before.

Two days later, at the Eden Gardens, the Tuskers successfully defended their modest total of 132/7 to win by six runs. This time, future CSK star Ravindra Jadeja was the hero for the Tuskers, scoring 29 and bagging two wickets.

Hat-trick of defeats
Just as everything seemed to be going right, the Tuskers travelled to Jaipur, where they found two mighty Australians, a handful. First up, legendary leg spinner, the late Shane Warne, took the Tuskers apart with 3/16. Parthiv Patel's run-a-ball 32 could only get the Tuskers to 109.

Warnie's openers Watson (49 off 40) and Rahul Dravid (44 off 37) made short work of the chase, winning in 14.1 overs at the expense of just two wickets.

If Jaipur was hot, it was nothing compared to what the boys from the Deccan (Chargers) fired up three days later in Kochi. India pacer Ishant Sharma bagged a fifer as DC crushed the Tuskers by 55 runs after bowling them out for their lowest IPL score of 74.

Visiting captain Kumar Sangakkara scored 65 before Sharma's heroics. Former South African pacer Dale Steyn was equally menacing, from the Tuskers' perspective, with 3/16.

The misery continued with the visit of Virender Sehwag's Delhi Daredevils. Sreesanth famously castled David Warner (3), but Delhi's superstar opener Sehwag belted a 47-ball 80 on a wicket that troubled almost every other batter. Delhi posted 157/7 before dismissing the Tuskers for 119.

Enter the 'Puli'
The Tuskers ended their rough patch in the reverse fixture against Delhi, that came just two days later. At the Kotla, coach Geoff Lawson unleashed a secret weapon - left-arm pacer Prasanth Parameswaran, affectionately called by his Kerala teammates as 'puli' (leopard). Sehwag was caught behind off the newcomer, who finished with 2/29 and the player-of-the-match award in a 7-wicket win.

The Tuskers continued the momentum with a thrilling 17-run win over KKR in Kochi. Raiphi produced a match-winning spell that comprised a maiden, a rarity in T20 cricket, to make it two wins in a row for the Tuskers. He claimed 2/14 from his four overs, which remains his best figures in IPL.

Gaylestorm hits
Inconsistency was the Tuskers' game and a visit to Bengaluru proved just that. It was also the match that grounded a high-flying Parameswaran.

RCB opener Chris Gayle unleashed his fury on Parameswaran, smashing 37 runs off an over. Gayle made 44 off 16 before Tillakaratne Dilshan (52) and Virat Kohli (27) finished things off in 13.1 overs, giving RCB a nine-wicket win.

The Tuskers then lost to Kings XI Punjab away despite captain Jayawardene's 76 that gave them a fighting 178/7. Dinesh Karthik's 33-ball 69 gave Punjab a 6-wicket win.

One last win
Australian all-rounder Brad Hodge had been one of the best players of the Kochi franchise, and he produced his best effort for them in their final victory of the season, and ever. Hodge bagged 4/13 and scored an unbeaten 33 off 17 as the Tuskers beat Rajasthan by eight wickets.

The Tuskers ended their season with a defeat to Dhoni's CSK in Chennai. The hosts posted 152/5 with Wriddhiman Saha scoring an unbeaten 46. The Tuskers so nearly upset Dhoni twice, with the versatile Hodge scoring an unbeaten 51 off 42, but their chase ended 11 runs short. The win sent CSK to the top of the table and left Tuskers eighth in the table, with eight defeats and six wins.