Sherfane Rutherford reveals private chat, reveals explosive details of conflict with CPL team owner

West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford has finally broken his silence on his controversial exit from the Caribbean Premier League in 2024. Rutherford, who played for St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in CPL 2024, has been suspended from the team in the middle of the tournament.

The allrounder has now opened up about the incident and slammed his team owner for his suspension. He believes that team owners should not talk to players if they have no knowledge of how to play the game.

Watch: Dewald Brevis shows incredible athleticism to pull off a sensational catch in the SA20

Sherfane Rutherford criticizes the owner of St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots

While speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing IL T20, Sherfane Rutherford spoke about the unfortunate incident and feels that the player must be treated with respect. He further argued that the owner did not play cricket and therefore would not understand the good and bad days of the sport.

“It’s important that you respect the player because at the end of the day it’s my job and that’s what I want to do. So I don’t think I’m deliberately not wanting to play. The owner hasn’t played any cricket. So obviously if you never play the sport , you wouldn’t understand peak days, good days and bad days – they’re always there in cricket,” Rutherford said.

“So it’s just about emotions. I think he just went out of emotions. As adults, we have to control it because at the end of the day our decision can take us further. So I think he made a mistake,” he told Cricbuzz.

How did this incident happen?

Speaking further about the incident, Sherfane Rutherford elaborated on the whole incident and how it all started. After being fired for the duck, he received a text from the team owner who blamed him for the team’s loss.

Versatile was not satisfied with the timing of the text and immediately conveyed his message to the owner, who is a businessman of Indian origin. The owner did not like the way Sherfane Rutherford responded and was therefore asked to leave the team.

“After the game against Barbados (which) we lost, the owner texted me that the team lost. He said, I caused them to lose the game. I responded in a way. It’s not a good time to text a player,” Sherfane Rutherford revealed.

“We are professionals, we have feelings. Well, obviously when you don’t like it, you just want to think. So when he sent me a message at the wrong time, I replied to him. That’s where they decided for me to go,” he said.

Previous instances of team owner involvement in team matters

This is not the first time franchise owners have been criticized for meddling in team affairs. In IPL 2024, Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka was maligned for speaking in a rude manner to his team’s captain KL Rahul after they lost the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Goenka and Rahul were seen in a heated argument after the match where the owner was clearly upset and venting his emotions in front of the public cameras. The debate became a hot topic of the tournament and Goenka received criticism for having such a relationship with the national cricketer.