McCullum: Acid test

Cape Town: With the opening day of the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s second edition producing stunning results, the Kolkata Knight Riders have put on hold finalising the XI for Sunday’s opener, against Deccan Chargers.

“Both matches will be reviewed before a decision is taken... In any case, there’s no hurry as our match is the day’s second,” a member of the team management told The Telegraph on Saturday evening.

What’s more or less confirmed is that captain Brendon McCullum will open with Chris Gayle. Sourav Ganguly is set to bat at No. 3, followed by Brad Hodge.

As only four foreigners can be fielded, the fourth slot is likely to go to an allrounder — Moises Henriques or Angelo Matthews or even Morne van Wyk.

If Morne plays, then he’ll ’keep and not McCullum.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla should be at No.6, followed by five compatriots.

The match will, of course, see John Buchanan’s multiple leaders’ concept on view on the big stage.

Meanwhile, till late in the evening, there was no confirmation that Adam Gilchrist, who has replaced V.V.S. Laxman as captain, would indeed make the XI. There’s been a question mark over the past couple of days.

The Deccan Chargers’ coach too is new — former Australia batsman Darren Lehman. Speaking exclusively, he said: “We aren’t looking back at what happened (finishing last) in the first season... It’s time to look ahead...”

Asked if the 11th-hour change at the top in the Knight Riders’ camp could have some bearing, Lehman replied: “Not really... It’s their internal thing which we don’t need to focus on... Even we’ve had changes...”

The Knight Riders’ principal owner, Shah Rukh Khan, has declared his team is the “coolest-looking one.” Now, the McCullums have to show they can be real hot as well, on the park.

Match starts: 8 pm (IST).