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

The two T20 internationals between the Proteas and Australia over the weekend gave a glimpse of what can be expected from this year’s IPL to be held in South Africa. And on the evidence of Cape Town and Johannesburg, it seems that the Deccan Chargers’ gain will be the Kolkata Knight Riders’ loss.

Following Andrew Symonds’ misdemeanours in the last nine months, the player who has benefited most from the vacancy for the batting allrounder in the limited overs format has been David Hussey. As such, the younger Hussey has since cemented a middle order position in the Australian ODI team, at least until Symonds is deemed to have been rehabilitated.

Last year, Hussey played out a full campaign, but this year, barring anomalous behaviour by the Australian selectors, he will miss at least the first nine matches, due to Australia’s ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

In the past year, he has become even more destructive in the abbreviated format. In the Australian T20 campaign this year, Hussey plundered 171 runs in four matches and was out only once, the highlight being an unbeaten 100 against Tasmania from only 47 overs. In five T20 internationals since then he has amassed 177 runs at 44.25, including a big-hitting 88* from 44 balls against South Africa at the Wanderers on Friday. Not only that, he counter-attacked despite the loss of two quick wickets, refusing to yield the momentum to his opponents. Hussey would have been invaluable in stabilising a Kolkata middle-order that will field Indian players who have never played outside the subcontinent.

Aside from his batting, he has also become more of a regular with his off spin, sending down at least three overs in each of his last nine matches. At international level this season, he has taken six wickets at 18.66, conceding less than seven runs per over, a performance comparable to any frontline spinner.

Were I more conspiratorially minded and cynical, I could claim that the reason for Ricky Ponting’s persistent advocacy of Symonds’ place in the Australian team would be to keep Hussey on full-time IPL duty, thereby strengthening Kolkata at the expense of the Hyderabad outfit, in order to land himself some kind of under-the-table kickbacks from Shahrukh Khan and co.

That’s wishful thinking of course, but if Kolkata are still in finals contention when Hussey returns for the latter part of the tournament, then they will surely be a threat. Having said that, with all the upheavals regarding the multiple captains, they would be lucky to still be in the hunt. Meanwhile, Symonds will be enjoying a full season in South Africa, the site of his career-defining campaign at the 2003 World Cup. Deccan will be hoping that he turns back the clock to the halcyon days.
Source – blogs.livemint.com

Newly appointed Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara on Saturday gave a thumbs up to John Buchanan’s concept of multiple captains and feels it opens up endless possibilities for the game.

Former Australia coach Buchanan, who is in charge of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the Indian Premier League, proposed more than one captain for the side which has sparked a furious debate in India with Sourav Ganguly fans claiming this was a move to sideline the former India skipper.

Sangakkara though found the concept pretty interesting and said it can be tried out in Twenty20 cricket.

However, he also said communication between the coach and players would be vital for this experiment to be successful.

“If it’s a way to go forward and it shows results, why not? Everyone is looking for the edge to win. If this is going to provide them that in the future, then it’s well and good,” said Sangakkara, who will lead Sri Lanka for the first time in the Twenty20 World Cup in England this June.

Sangakkara said he understands Buchanan’s concept because he believes that leadership is always situational.

“I believe that leadership is always situational. It’s a very interesting concept, and I think it’s all about using the best man for a specific situation,” he told ‘cricket news web site´.
Source – hindustantimes.com