The Indian Premier League will see the beginning of the 13th season and it has been quite a ride for a tournament – IPL started back in 2008 and now, is the hottest property in the game. It has had its share of bumps on the way, but it continues to motor on and is carrying the flag of the game and the format.
Yes, there have been controversies, there have been different teams that gained popularity and then had to be disbanded.
The Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) was a replacement team for suspended Chennai Super Kings and came into being in 2015 and was owned by Sanjiv Goenka’s RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. They reached the play-offs in 2016 and made it to the finals in 2017, but had to be disbanded once CSK were readmitted to IPL in 2018.
After Rajasthan Royals was banned for two years following the spot-fixing scandal, Gujarat Lions was named as the replacement and featured two IPL seasons in 2016 and 2017. They were owned by Intex Technologies and was led by Suresh Raina. They finished third in their inaugural season, but could not replicate the performance in 2017. They had to disband in 2018 when Rajasthan Royals came back to the fold.
