They signed a number of top international cricketers including Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Jesse Ryder, Angelo Mathews, Murali Kartik, Ashish Nehra, Graeme Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Alfonso Thomas, Wayne Parnell and Jerome Taylor[11] as well as a number of uncapped Indian players who had previously played for others franchises, including Rahul Sharma, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish Mishra, Ganesh Gaikwad, Manish Pandey and Kamran Khan.
[13] On 3 May 2011, the Pune Warriors selected former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly to play for them as a replacement for the injured Ashish Nehra.
[11] The Warriors got off to a successful start in the 2011 Indian Premier League by defeating Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers Kerala at home.
Following this successful start, however, the team's performance went downhill and they only won another 2 matches that season, which were against Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers, both away.
[16] On 6 February 2012, Subrata Roy, the chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, said that Sourav Ganguly will take a call on reconciliation.
[18] A week later, the BCCI announced that they have allowed Yuvraj Singh's replacement for Pune Warriors India for the 2012 season, though a deadlock still persisted between the two parties on long-term sponsorship.
[19] On 16 February 2012, the BCCI and Sahara ended their differences and announced that Pune Warriors India will play in IPL 5.
They also signed Indian players including Raiphi Gomez, Ali Murtaza, Ashok Dinda, Anustup Majumdar and Mahesh Rawat.
But just like in 2011, the team could not maintain the initial momentum and again won only two more matches that season, against defending champions Chennai Super Kings at home and Delhi Daredevils away.
Midway through the season, Ganguly was sacked as captain and was dropped from the team due to lack of results, but was retained as mentor.
For the home match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Ganguly rested himself, with Steve Smith taking up the captaincy, but still, the team lost by 35 runs.
For the 2013 season, Pune Warriors India retained Steve Smith, Tamim Iqbal, Marlon Samuels and Luke Wright but released Clarke, James Hopes, Callum Ferguson, Alfonso Thomas, Murali Kartik and Jesse Ryder.
Unfortunately for the franchise, Clarke, who was the frontrunner to lead the team, was ruled out of the entire season with a recurring back and hamstring injury, which was aggravated during the Australian tour of India held earlier.
The Warriors were thoroughly humiliated in their away match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, courtesy Chris Gayle's 175 not out off only 66 balls and later became the first team in the 2013 season to be knocked out of contention for the playoffs after a loss to Chennai Super Kings at home.
On 21 May 2013, just two days after finishing its league campaign, Sahara withdrew Pune Warriors India from the IPL for the second time in three years.
[6] The reason, according to BCCI, was the encashing of the team's bank guarantee after Sahara defaulted on paying the entire franchise fee.
[6] BCCI sources said that Sahara paid 20% of the franchise fee in January 2013 and had promised to pay the remaining amount by 19 May 2013 but they failed to do so.
[37] TVS was replaced as the team's main sponsor for their final season by Sansui Electric, a Japanese consumer appliance manufacturer.
The other sponsors are Indigo Airlines, Seagrams, Jockey, Reynolds, Raymond Group, Fastrack, Airtel and Ashirwad Pipes.
The video of the song showed a warrior riding on a horse and inspiring the Pune residents to come to the stadium where they witnessed the team cricketers.
The opportunity, which we want all the franchisees of IPL to avail collectively, so that the rich cultural heritage of India is presented in an innovative way to the world.
[37] TVS was replaced as the team's main sponsor for their final season by Sansui Electric, a Japanese consumer appliance manufacturer.