Sticky Wicket

Most feel that the decision,though painful,was necessary. Praful Chandravarkar,of Malaka Spice feels that the KKR team management has actually made a very smart corporate decision. “Ganguly is 38 years old,and has retired from other forms of cricket for a few years now. The truth is,KKR has handled the auctions brilliantly and unfortunately,Ganguly doesn’t fit into their scheme of things anymore.” Movie director Ravi Jadhav agrees,saying,“It had to be done. Sadly,’Dada’ was not performing well,and it was necessary to drop him from the team. This also gives a chance for the younger blood to prove themselves.”

While Ganguly’s omission was hardly a matter of surprise,the way it was done has brought Khan’s PR machinery under sharp criticism. “Shah Rukh Khan could have gracefully offered him a mentor’s role,like Vijay Mallya has done to Anil Kumble for Royal Challengers,” says Subir Malik,lead keyboardist,of music band Parikrama. Prahlad Kakkar,adman,says,”Like Anil Kumble,Sourav Ganguly too should have gracefully made an exit. He has a place in history and everyone’s heart,but clearly not the team.” “The so-called perfect pair,SRK-Ganguly didn’t exactly work in the past,so maybe it was time for Kolkata Knight Riders to try a new player,” says actor Shekhar Suman.

While Khan is now washing his hands off the mess by shifting the blame to the”’cricketing brains” in his management team,he seems to be in a placatory mood,referring to Ganguly as his younger brother. Famously,earlier when John Buchanan,the then coach of KKR had suggested multiple captains for the team,Khan had intervened on Ganguly’s behalf,saying,“There will be no KKR without Dada.”

Facebook fan pages and websites have led themselves to heated arguments over the new KKR team. “All these talks now seems like damage control tactics to me,” says Sushmit Chowdhury,a Sourav Ganguly fan. “The IPL is based on a business model and the owner will always see his profit. But this whole SRK-Ganguly controversy could have been avoided,had it been handled more maturely,” says Akhil Kumar,the gold medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Is SRK listening? (With inputs from Express Features Service)