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Calcutta: John Buchanan, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ head of cricket operations, who is under fire for the franchise’s bottom-placed showing in IPL 2009, spoke to The Telegraph (from Johannesburg) for half-an-hour on Friday afternoon.
The following are excerpts
Q To say that the Knights disappointed would, I suppose, be a gross understatement...
A Yeah... We’d expected to make the semi-finals, but didn’t get there... We didn’t get the results we’d worked for and had to catch the bus (home) early... However, I wouldn’t say we had a disastrous tournament.
But, in a way, aren’t you relieved that IPL 2009 is over for the Knights?
It’s a time to look ahead... I understand the next edition could begin a few weeks earlier... It’s also time to introspect and to build on whatever positives we’ve had in South Africa.
Why could the Knights not get things right?
Good question... We did get a few things right, but not enough on the days it mattered... Our batting didn’t produce partnerships and the bowling wasn’t as efficient as it should’ve been... We dropped catches as well... Other teams also had issues... Unfortunately, there always was something which didn’t quite work, more so at critical moments... I should add that injuries didn’t help... (Cheteshwar) Pujara got injured during the camp and missed the entire tournament... That hurt us, as did (Wriddhiman) Saha’s injury, which kept him out of so many matches... That bit, really, wasn’t in our control.
The Knights, however, did finish with wins in the last two matches...
We did get across the line, yes, but those results didn’t help us... (After a pause) The last-ball loss to the Deccan Chargers (in the second match against the Hyderabad franchise), for example, was painful... Till that last over, we’d played so well... What’s pleasing is that the players and the support staff stuck together and the passion was there.
But the feeling, frankly, is that the Knights didn’t have enough match-winners. Do you agree?
We had a good mix of international players, most of whom were, on their day, capable of pulling off wins... We couldn’t play the (international) specialist bowlers regularly as we needed to strengthen our batting... Looking ahead, we’ll have to focus on our top-order... That’s the priority.
Besides the Super Over defeat, four matches were lost in the last over. Isn’t that indicative of a lack of mental toughness?
In T20 especially, there’s a very thin line between winning and losing... In any case, you win some and lose some... As it turned out, we lost more matches than we ought to have.
Would anybody get a special mention from you?
(Brendon) McCullum grew as a leader... Probably Brad Hodge, who showed his class at the T20 level... Morne van Wyk impressed... Among the Indian players, Saha was good... Ishant (Sharma) continues to grow, both as a bowler and as a leader within the group... Ajit Agarkar got better and better... I should make a mention of Laxmi Ratan Shukla... He didn’t play all the matches, but got his game together and was superb in the last outing, becoming the MoM (against the Rajasthan Royals)... He produced such a composed and mature innings.
With just 189 runs, Sourav Ganguly disappointed...
Brendon couldn’t get started at the start of the tournament, while Sourav did... Later, Brendon started getting his game together, but Sourav didn’t get any momentum... I’m sure he left feeling disappointed, both with his own and the franchise’s performance.
Was the captaincy issue a distraction?
Look, it’s up to the individuals to deliver on their skills... I don’t think it could’ve been a major factor.
Sending back Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar very early from IPL 2009...
Everybody knew that the squad would be pruned and that some had stayed back because of injuries to others... I accept it was disappointing for the individuals who had to go back... Would be natural for them to be unhappy.
Should McCullum be retained as captain?
Right through, he grew as a leader and, towards the end, led by example... I’m sure he’d want to do the job again and that should be the case.
Is your multiple leaders’ concept going to be revived next year, in the third edition?
I tried something... It will evolve... I believe a good foundation has been laid.
There’s been talk that principal owner Shah Rukh Khan is looking to replace you...
A lot of things have been said and written... As for continuing to work with the franchise, personally, I’m looking to next year and beyond.
Has Shah Rukh spoken to you in recent days?
No... I’m sure there will soon be an opportunity to meet him, though.
The last one: In your opinion, which team stands the best chance of winning IPL 2009?
(Laughs) As we speak, even the first semi-final is still some hours away... I expect the final to feature the Chennai Super Kings and the Delhi DareDevils... If that is so, then my money would be on the Super Kings... T20 is somewhat of a lottery and, often, one individual can influence the outcome.
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