Sourav Ganguly will likely lead the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the second edition of the IPL, but unlike last year he will not have the final call. He will be assisted by a team of four or five ‘core experts’ in various departments of the game.

Sourav, who was in the city on Tuesday, met with team coach John Buchanan and KKR co-owner Jay Mehta at Mannat, Shah Rukh Khan’s residence. Though the details of the meeting were not discussed, it is clear that the deliberations were to iron out the captaincy issue that sparked outrage after Buchanan’s ‘multiple captain’ theory.

The KKR management in a statement said that “the idea is to have a set of strategists as is always the case classically in cricket… who will form a team of 4 or 5 core experts in the field of fielding, bowling, batting and data etc. These strategists will assist the one captain on field with their viewpoints on the plan set earlier or shoot from the hip as the case maybe.”

A team official on conditions of anonymity further added that “the intent of today’s meeting was to keep the team’s plan where it was. And that is that the decision-making process is a shared one. As far as Sourav is concerned, he is a senior who was the captain last year and we want to make sure that he stays in a respectable position.

“All internal decisions are taken collectively by the core team, which comprises John, Sourav, Matthew Mott and a few others and there is no dissent on that ever.” A squad of 15 KKR players will leave for Johannesburg from Mumbai on Wednesday.
Source – hindustantimes.com

Sourav Ganguly, who captained the Knight Riders last year did not do too poorly as a batsman, getting over 300 runs. Yes, his team did not fare well but he was hardly to blame.

New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum set the IPL on fire with a blistering 157 in the opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore but had to fly back home for international commitments after playing just four games.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting flopped drastically during his tenure with the team for the four matches while Chris Gayle did not even play a single match.

Kolkata stumbled and fell apart and failed to lived up to the hype generated before the IPL kicked off.

The fact is Buchanan has done Ganguly in. Most of the youngsters in the team have grown up watching Dada and their loyalty for the former India captain would have haunted Buchanan.

The former Aussie coach said he wants to try this as an experimentation. Is the IPL a place for experimentations?

With so much at stake and the money power riding so high, is it wise to have four different captains hold the reigns?

One for the toss, one for the batting order, one for field placements and another for bowling changes. This would not only leave the team confused but supporters fuming.

Would Buchanan have done it had the IPL been played in India and the team been based at home in Kolkata?

The City of Joy is fuming. And why not! Ganguly lashed back at Buchanan saying he might also stand up and ask for four coaches in the team.

Much has been made of the displeasure shown by Ganguly in the press conference where he sat with a frown on his face with Buchanan for company.

For a man, who has given so much to Indian cricket and led the Knight Riders with so much power despite the absence of big stars, this was something he could have done without.

There is still over a couple of weeks to go and in a world of such glorious uncertainities, Ganguly might still be the only one to lead Shah Rukh Khan’s team out on the field.

And given a chance, Kolkata might well be humming the team song with more passion this summer.
Source – espnstar.com

he first game of the second edition of the cash-rich IPL is less than three weeks away.

Sourav Ganguly was in Mumbai on Tuesday for a meeting with team owner Shah Rukh Khan and coach John Buchanan. The meeting was held at Shah Rukh Khan’s home.

Last week, Buchanan threw the cat among the pigeons when he announced an ambitious plan to experiment with multiple captains during the course of a game.

There was further confusion brewing in the Kolkata camp after Shah Rukh Khan tried to play down the controversy over the captaincy issue.

Shah Rukh walked the ramp in the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai and told the media that it was a matter of miscommunication that had caused the captaincy issue to spiral up into a matter of greater proportions.

“I think there is a lot of over-reaction and rumors about he’s been removed from captaincy.But that is completely untrue,” said Khan.

Clearly a lot can happen when you get India’s biggest movie star, India’s most celebrated captain and a maverick coach together!

Source – cricketnext.in.com

Rajasthan Royals, the reigning IPL champions, will be looking to rediscover their famous team spirit in the second season, which kicks off in South Africa on April 18.

“The secret of our success last year was that we clicked as a unit. It should be the goal this year as well,” said Mohammad Kaif, arguably the most well-known Indian player in the team.

From a bunch of no-hopers who did not even spend the allotted quota of money to buy players in the first auction, the Shane Warne-led team played some extremely disciplined cricket to come out winners of the five-week contest last time.

It is a feat that could put them in the highest echelons of sporting excellence as the Royals are in the early running for nominations in the best team category for Laureus World Sports Awards.

The other possible nominees in this category, hold your breath, is Jamaica’s Olympic sprint team, including 100 metre and 200 champion Usain Bolt, British cycling team, which went on a medal-spree in Beijing, and Spain’s European Championship-winning soccer team.

In cricket, the only other early nomination is that of South African team, which became the first side in 16 years to win a Test series in Australia.

The final list of nominees, venue and date for what is the sporting Oscars now will be announced on April 16.

While Kaif was not aware of this, the Test discard said he was looking forward to meet the teammates in South Africa on April 5.

“I have not been quite in touch with the boys, but we are expected to have a camp at our base in Cape Town,” Kaif told Gulf News over phone. “It will certainly not be the same to play in front of your home crowd, but it could be a different experience altogether,” he said.

Asked about a possible pressure factor from being the underdogs last year to getting down to title-defence, Kaif said it would not weigh them down. “See, it’s a short game and one bad day can make a lot of difference. The idea would be to take it match by match and see show it goes,” said the middle order batsman, who agreed that he needed to make up for a patchy individual form last year.

While the first edition of IPL saw a virtual run-feast in most of the games, it will it be little more challenging for the batsmen on the bouncier wickets of South Africa where the ball also moves around a bit in the evening? “Most of the leading stroke players of the world would love the bounce there. However, it might see some more even contest between the bat and ball with some low-scoring matches as well,” Kaif said.
Source – gulfnews.com

Now that all of the legal and financial obstacles are through, the DLF Indian Premier League is now ready to being its season on April 18. Bollywood actress and co-owner of inaugural IPL Champion Rajashthan Royals Shilpa Shetty is ready for the season to finally get underway. While the IPL has been a cash cow becoming a billion dollar entity in only its first season, the move to South Africa due to general elections in India has scared some sponsors and advertisers. Shetty and her boyfriend, businessman Raj Kumdra believe this is a long term investment that will pay off huge dividends.

“Raj and I have thought of it as a long-term investment plan and I really think the way the Rajasthan Royals have turned out as a team has been spectacular,” Shetty told the Times.co.za.

Being the co-owner of the reigning champion Rajasthan Royals might make life easier for Shilpa Shetty than some other celebrity owners of IPL franchises such as Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Juhi Chawla. While that brings major bragging rights, it also brings higher expectations of her and of her team as they look to remain the only champions the Indian Premier League has ever known.

“The [Rajasthan Royals’] growth as a team and an investment has gone by leaps and bounds. It made money even last year, and it will continue to make money this year, despite the whole shift from India to South Africa.”

The Rajasthan Royals open up their schedule in Cape Town on April 18 against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The difference between this Twenty20 tournament and regular cricket is that the time of the game is considerably shorter, something that Shilpa Shetty highly approves of.

“I’ve always been a very impatient person. I always like to watch the last 20 overs. I’ve never had the patience to watch a whole match. This whole Twenty20 format for me is really interesting and I’m a huge fan of that,” Shetty said.

While she’s a huge fan of the cricket time, she’s not a fan of having to pick favorites on her team. When asked to name her favorite cricketer, Shilpa Shetty said, “I think it’s rather unfair of me to take just one player’s name, especially when you’re a co-owner. So I just simply say whoever makes the most runs, and gets the most wickets, for the Rajasthan Royals, becomes my favorite player.” She is definitely playing it safe there.
Source – desihits.com