Sourav Ganguly Takes Shot At Shah Rukh Khan As He Reveals Why He Failed As Kolkata Knight Riders Captain
Published - 10 Jul 2020, 12:24 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:31 AM
Sourav Ganguly’s stint with Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) did not really go as expected. The Indian cricket fraternity was too excited to see the legendary cricketer donning the captain’s hat once again. The way the Knight Riders started in the IPL by dismantling Royal Challengers Bangalore in the very first match of the tournament, it looked like Sourav Ganguly would make a big impression.
However, things did not really turn out as expected. And after three poor seasons, the Knight Riders decided to let him go as he joined now-defunct Pune Warriors. Sourav Ganguly brought down curtains on his IPL career after the 2012 season. The legendary captain recently opened up on his stint with the Kolkata-based franchise.
He took shot at the franchise’s co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, saying that the latter did not give him the freedom like he gave it to his successor Gautam Gambhir. Sourav Ganuly said the best IPL teams have had captains who had total control of the proceedings and he had asked Shah Rukh Khan for the same as early as the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008.
“I was seeing an interview where Gautam Gambhir said Shah Rukh Khan had told him in the fourth year ‘This is your team, I will not interfere.’ That’s what I told him in the first year. Leave it to me. It didn’t happen,” Sourav Ganguly said in an interview with Gautam Bhattacharjee on his YouTube channel.
“The best IPL teams have been those that have left the team to the players. Look at CSK, MS Dhoni runs it. In Mumbai also, no one goes up to Rohit Sharma and tells him to select certain players,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir, nonetheless, made an immediate impact and led the team to the playoffs for the first time in his very first season. In 2012 and 2014, he led the Knight Riders to glory before joining Delhi Capitals in 2018.
Under Sourav Ganguly, the Knight Riders finished 6th in 2008. In 2009, the franchise’s former coach John Buchanan adopted multiple-captaincy which backfired as the team finished at the bottom. In 2010, Sourav Ganguly was re-instated as the captain but he could not deliver as the team finished sixth once again. Recalling his relationship with Buchanan, he said his problems with the former Australia coach started as early as the end of IPL 2008.
