‘Any Chance BCCI Could Locate?’ Former Australian Cricketer Brad Hodge says players still owed 35% match fees by Kochi Tuskers Kerela.

Byline By- Vinayak Heliwal

A day after it was reported that Indian women cricketers will get prize money for last year’s ICC WT20 World Cup hosted by Australia in the ongoing week, former Australian batsman Brad Hodge on Monday took to Twitter to make the startling revelation that players who had played for now-defunct franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerela ten years ago have still not received their 35 percent of match fees.

The IPL is one of the biggest domestic T20 tournaments in the world, and Hodge’s tweet came as a huge surprise to many on social media. Former Australian cricketer Brad Hodge has also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India to see if they can help in the matter.

For the unversed Kochi Tuskers were added to the IPL 2011 roster along with Pune Warriors India but the Kerela based team was removed just after one season as the franchise failed to pay the 10% bank guarantee due to a dispute between the owners

The former cricketer, who had played under several IPL franchises between 2008 and 2014 was part of KTK in 2011 where he played 14 games and scored 285 runs at a strike rate of 120.76.

“Players are still owed 35% of their money earned from ten years ago from the @IPL representing Kochi tuskers. Any chance @BCCI could locate that money?” Hodge tweeted.

Hodge was bought by Kochi Tuskers for USD 425, 000 at the 2010 auction. Now as per Hodge’s tweet, it seems that Kochi Tuskers still owe the Australian more than USD 127,000.

Hodge was referring to a report published in the ‘Telegraph’ about the Indian Women’s Team not receiving their share of USD 550,000 ICC prize money from the BCCI.

It must be noted that Kochi Tuskers were expelled after just one season for defaulting on an annual payment of Rs 155.3 crores in 2011.

Players such as Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardena had represented the franchise, which was bought for a whopping Rs. 1550 crore. Kochi Tuskers Kerela had failed to pay the guarantee per year, which led to their termination from the cash-rich league

One of the co-owners of the franchise, Rendezvous Sports World has dragged BCCI to the Bombay High Court, which order the Indian board to pay the franchise Rs 550 crore.

Moreover, In 2012 there were reports that some cricketers who played for the disbanded IPL team, didn’t receive 30 to 4p percent of their promised payments.

In his IPL career that lasted 66 matches, Hodge played for franchises like Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Kochi Tuskers Kerela and scored 1,400 runs at a decent average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 125.22 with the help of six half-centuries.