IPL: 5 times when there was a rift between a player and his franchise

IPL has seen a lot of rift between the players and franchise over the years and the management becomes a key factor in the decision-making. It is important to understand the strength and role of the player inside the team and sometimes, decisions could backfire the whole harmony inside the franchise.

The involvement of owners in the team decisions against the interest of the players has always been an area of concern and it had to be dealt with in the right way. More often, the head coach and the captain have failed to be on the same side and dropping a big player is not an easy decision in the cash-rich tournament. The players have often moved out of a franchise if they feel they have been disrespected by the management.

Here are 5 times when there was a rift between a player and their IPL franchise:

1. David Warner and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021

David Warner has been one of the best batters in IPL history over the years and he had a great impact on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in his stint from 2014 to 2021. The left-hander led the side in 2016 to a title victory and he was quite consistent at the top of the order. The Hyderabad fans loved his presence in the squad and crowds gathered in numbers whenever he came out to bat.

He won the orange cap thrice in 2015, 2017, and 2019 and it looked like the bond was unbreakable between the franchise and Warner. However, it all seemed to fade away in 2021 as Sunrisers sacked him from captaincy after a poor start to the tournament. SRH lost five out of their first six games and the management wasn’t happy with the team combination.

Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson were undroppable owing to good form and Warner’s position in the playing XI came under the scanner. Finally, Warner was omitted from the playing XI and Williamson was named the captain in the middle of the tournament. The decision turned a lot of eyes red and the fans certainly did not welcome it. Warner played just eight games in the season where he scored 195 runs which included two fifties.

Despite being a match winner for the franchise for a long time, Warner was benched and the social media went bizarre seeing him carrying drinks. As expected, he was subsequently not retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL Mega auction in 2022 and he moved to the Delhi Capitals.

2. Suresh Raina and Chennai Super Kings in 2020

Suresh Raina has a huge fan base in the country and he has been popularly called the Mr IPL for his consistency in the cash-rich tournament. The left-hander has been a great contributor to the Chennai Super Kings franchise since the inaugural edition and he held the record for the most runs in IPL for a long time until Virat Kohli went past him a few years back.

It all started in 2020 when Raina decided not to take part in the tournament due to personal issues. There were a lot of rumours that a rift developed between CSK and Raina however, the latter cleared that. In 2021, Raina returned to the playing XI, but the number three spot was no longer his own as Moeen Ali’s impressive returns had ensured the English lad got the nod.

The 35-year-old had to slot into the middle order but he never seemed like the old match winner. He scored just 160 runs in 12 games and an injury forced him out of the playing XI in the knockout stages. He wasn’t retained by CSK as expected and despite all his efforts for the franchise, Raina was shown the exit door after the IPL 2021. He went unsold in the mega auction and clearly, CSK were no longer interested in one of the franchise’s heroes.

3. Sourav Ganguly and Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009

Sourav Ganguly was named the skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural edition with John Buchanan as the head coach. The franchise finished sixth in the points table despite having a lot of big names and Buchanan opted for a multi-captaincy theory in the very next season.

In a press conference ahead of the second season, Buchanan failed to explain the reason behind the multi-captaincy theory and the rift between him and Ganguly was quite evident. The multi-captaincy decision proved to be a nightmare as the franchise ended up as the wooden spoon holders.

The horrific show from KKR revealed that Ganguly was demoralised in the KKR set up and in fact, the owners’ involvement in Ganguly’s captaincy sacking had further increased the heat of the matter. However, in the third season, Ganguly’s seemed to have found a lot of love and support from the fans resulting in his reappointment as captain.

4. Chris Gayle and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017

Another legend of the tournament, Chris Gayle had played an immense part in the Royal Challengers Bangalore setup since his arrival in 2011 and he ripped apart a lot of bowling attacks. The left-hander was in impeccable form, especially in the 2011 and 2012 seasons where he won the orange cap.

During his stint with RCB, he also brought up the highest individual IPL score of 175 not out which is yet to be broken and certainly enjoyed opening with Virat Kohli on the other side. However, in the 2017 season, the Universe boss accumulated just 200 runs in nine innings for the franchise. Ahead of the 2018 mega auction, Gayle managed to regain form in CPL and BPL and he clearly was confident of being retained by RCB.

However, it wasn’t the case, and Gayle was quite disappointed with the franchise for letting him go. In fact, he slammed the management for giving him false impressions ahead of the auction and was quite disheartened while leaving. The fans in Bangalore have always loved the Gayle Storm and no wonder, the Caribbean lad looked disappointed.

5. Ravindra Jadeja and Chennai Super Kings in 2022

Ahead of the IPL 2022 season, MS Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain and wanted Ravindra Jadeja to take up the role. Jadeja was quite animated on the field but CSK suffered a lot of losses at the start of this year’s edition. Jadeja’s batting form took a big blow and it seemed like the captaincy had taken a toll on his own form.

In the midway of the tournament, CSK were almost out of the race for the playoffs, however, the management handed the captaincy again to Dhoni. Jadeja did not play in the last few games owing to an injury, and there were talks of him being not happy with the management.

The captaincy change towards the end has clearly shown that Jadeja might not be in the future plans for CSK in terms of leadership. The rift has started to grow big as Jadeja seemed to have deleted all his Instagram posts related to Chennai Super Kings recently. It will be interesting to see if the all-rounder decides to leave the franchise ahead of next season which will be a massive moment for the fans.