In his characteristic no-nonsense style, Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan has rubbished media reports that all is not well between the team’s high-profile owner Shah Rukh Khan and skipper Sourav Ganguly.Dismissing reports in a section of the media that hinted towards an SRK-Ganguly spat in the making following the team’s poor showing in the IPL, Buchanan made it clear that such “speculation” is not only “baseless” but has in fact further galvanised the players.“Those are completely inane comments and suggestions. They are meaningless and baseless, and some people are responsible for it. In fact, such reports and rumours have not affected the morale of the players. Instead, they have further brought the players closer to one another, I can say that for sure. At the end of the day, we are not bothered by such stories,” said Buchanan at the pre-match press conference when asked if the speculation of an SRK-Ganguly spat was affecting the morale of the players. The Aussie’s assertion comes a couple of days after Shah Rukh had shot off an emotionally-charged message to the team members, in which he rubbished reports of a spat with skipper Ganguly.The Knight Riders, languising in sixth position in the eight-team IPL table with just five wins in 13 matches, will take on an in-form Kings XI Punjab in tomorrow’s clash at the Eden Gardens. While the hosts don’t have much to play for, having already been knocked out of semi-final contention, Kings XI will be desperate for a win to ensure a finish on top, ahead of rivals Rajasthan Royals.Looking back at the IPL campaign, Buchanan called upon cricket Boards from all over the world to compromise more from the next season when it comes to releasing players for the IPL tournament. Although he stayed away from lamenting the absence of Kolkata’s top foreign recruits like Ricky Ponting, Brendan McCullum and Chris Gayle, Buchanan said that the other cricket Boards need to be more supportive of the IPL. “Every franchisee has had issues with missing players, so we shouldn’t be complaining about our players who we are missing. My overall message to other cricket Boards is to support ideas like the IPL and keep the window open for their players to participate. Of course, when there are tours clashing, one can’t help it,” he said. After a failed first season in the IPL, Buchanan now reckons that his entire focus will now be on the team’s future in the Twenty20 tournament. “We have to learn from the things that went wrong and reinforce the things that we did right. I hope we have a better time next season,” he said.
