“Players owed money from 10 years ago”: Brad Hodge slams BCCI over non-payment for representing Kochi Tuskers Kerala in IPL 2011

Brad Hodge slams BCCI: The former Australian cricketer claims to have not received a payment for an IPL season which happened 10 years ago.

Former Australia batsman Brad Hodge has accused the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for not paying players who represented Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League in 2011.

Hodge, who had played the last of his 46 international matches for Australia during ICC World Twenty20 2014, took to social media platform Twitter to raise the issue.

It is worth mentioning that Hodge’s tweet has come after a recent row where the Indian board has received severe criticism for similar non-payment-related concerns not just for women’s and men’s cricketers but also other staff such as umpires, scorers etc.

Having made his IPL debut for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008, Hodge had represented Kochi Tuskers for a solitary season in 2011 before playing three seasons for Rajasthan Royals.

In 14 T20s for Kerala in IPL 2011, Hodge had scored 285 runs at an average of 35.63 and a strike rate of 120.76 which included a half-century against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk in their last league match.

After playing in the IPL for seven seasons, Hodge had taken up the coaching role at Gujarat Lions in 2016-17. In IPL 2018, Hodge was the head coach of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) under former India batsman and the then director of cricket Virender Sehwag.

Brad Hodge slams BCCI over non-payment for representing Kochi Tuskers Kerala in IPL 2011

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?

— Brad Hodge (@bradhodge007) May 24, 2021

In addition to Pune Warriors India, Kochi Tuskers Kerala was the second team which was added to the IPL before a grand auction ahead for the 2011 season. However, the franchise ended up getting terminated after their maiden season as they failed to pay the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise fee. The matter had soon escalated into a tussle in the court.

In the general run of things, IPL players are paid their salaries in three installments with portions of the payment being paid before, during and after the tournament.

It remains to be seen if BCCI or the IPL will respond to Hodge’s staggering accusation around a non-payment from a decade ago. Considered as the richest cricket board around the globe, BCCI should put forward their side of the story to avoid further such claims.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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