Ganguly to try out Buchanan's captaincy rotation

appears to have reluctantly agreed to the proposed rotation of captains by cricket director of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) John Buchanan.
Ganguly says the idea of multiple captains is John's plan and the team would give it a try.

"He is the coach. These are John's plans. We will go by them and we all have to deliver on the field. That's how the sports go," said Ganguly, arguably India's most successful captain, after Buchanan unveiled his plans for multiple captains during KKR's second Indian Premier League (IPL) engagements in South Africa. "My job is to get runs and take wickets," said a dejected Ganguly, with a resigned look on his face.

Buchanan dropped a bombshell three days back, saying that the leadership issue is still to be decided.

And Wednesday the Australian said he had planned to rotate the captaincy with players like Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Brad Hodge in the side. "There will not necessarily be a fixed captain in the team. We have not nominated a captain so far. It's still open. We are also looking at someone to lead the team even when he is off the field."

"We have a lot of high-calibre players in the side. There are several experienced players in the side. We are going to use the experience of all of them for the benefit of the team," Buchanan told the media at the Eden Gardens here with Ganguly, who led the KKR in the first edition of IPL last year, by his side. To a pointed question from a scribe, Ganguly said: "No, I am not upset."

But his uncharacteristically unshaven and dishevelled look indicated otherwise.

Buchanan hugged Ganguly in a show of bonhomie at the very beginning of the press conference, when asked about the reported rift between the two.

"There are no problems between us. He is a fine person," Buchanan said.

Blaming the media for the controversy, he said: "We are not sending across any (wrong) messages to the other teams. You (media) are (doing it)." Buchanan said the very nature of the Twenty20 game requires new thinking.

"This format brings new challenges to the game, so it needs different thinking.

"For an example, if the captain gets out early or is not satisfied with the decision, he will feel disturbed. The short game does not give you the time to recover. In such a case, a second captain can do a better job," he said, adding that he (Buchanan) himself will carry the cross for the KKR in the entire IPL tournament.

"For example, McCullum is behind the stumps, he will have a good idea of the field. So he can be a captain as far as the field placing is concerned." Buchanan said the number of captains, whether one or more, will be decided after assessing the condition before a match in South Africa.

"If we find that the plan is not working, we'll switch over to plan-II," he said.

The former Aussie coach said he would try out his plans in a practice game in South Africa ahead of the tournament starting April 18.

Asked about the major challenges he would face in South Africa, Buchanan said he had no idea about the tournament schedule and the venue.

The KKR owners or other team officials, however, are yet to come out officially on the captaincy issue.