Just one skipper for KKR

The multiple-captaincy issue seems to have blown over with Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan reiterating that there would only be one captain for the team....

The multiple-captaincy issue seems to have blown over with Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan reiterating that there would only be one captain for the team.

After a day-long meeting with team director John Buchanan and Sourav Ganguly at his residence on Tuesday,Shah Rukh said in an SMS statement that the multiple captain theory had been wrongly interpreted. The idea was publicly announced by Buchanan during a press conference here a week back,who had said that New Zealands Brendon McCullum,West Indies skipper Chris Gayle,Australian Brad Hodge and Laxmi Ratan Shukla would share captaincy duties.

The captain for the team is one and one only as is the case in most sports, Shah Rukh said. The term multi-captain has raised a few eyebrows. The idea is to have a set of strategists,as is always the case classically in cricket,who will form a team of 4-5 experts on the field. These strategists will assist the captain on field with their viewpoints…

Just the roles which are there in the regular format of the game like the fielding expert,batting coach etc are being better defined,to be able to give quick suggestions,as in the case of baseball and other fast-paced sports, he said,adding that even this confusion is caused because these roles got described as multiple captains a day before the joint press conference between John and Dada.

No conflict

Shah Rukh also insisted there was no conflict within the team management. All internal decisions are taken collectively by the core cricketing team which comprises John,Sourav,(chief coach) Matthew Mott and a few others. We have immense respect for the two most senior members of our KKR team and all decisions are taken in tandem.

However,despite clearing the air over the captaincy issue,Shah Rukh refrained from naming anyone to lead the side in South Africa. …well take a call on the issue of captain,vice-captain,the team in South Africa prior to the first game. Reason for doing so is not to shirk the issue of whos the captain but to announce all that together to make it a cohesive decision from the team management…to avoid confusion like it has resulted right now, he said.