The continuing misery

While Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan insists that all is well within the camp and text messages are motivation enough for his team...

8226;While Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan insists that all is well within the camp and text messages are motivation enough for his team in distress, coach John Buchanan seems to have kept his laptop aside and decided to take a more realistic view of the situation. In the Aussie8217;s opinion, there might not be an immediate solution to the side8217;s dwindling fortunes but Buchanan certainly believes that in the backdrop of the top-order8217;s continuous failure, it is the middle-order that will have to bail the team out.

8220;The top order has been failing repeatedly and we are still searching for answers as to what is going wrong. I am now looking up to the middle-order batsmen to bail us out,8221; he says, without naming any particular player.

That is as far as Knight Riders8217; batting disorder goes. In the bowling department, Shoaib Akhtar losing his steam after an impressive debut in IPL, has also raised 8216;fitness suspicions8217; in Buchanan8217;s mind. 8220;Basically, Shoaib had come to this tournament as under-prepared. Although he8217;s been trying to give his 100 percent since he landed here, his knee continues to be a problem,8221; says the coach.

Meanwhile, Team Kolkata have other embarrassing situations on hand too. The latest is the Eden Gardens8217; floodlights going off once again in the rain-marred match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Had the thunderstorm not diverted the entire attention, rumours of another sabotage would8217;ve surely been making the rounds.

The Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation CESC has made it clear that the fault lies entirely with the Cricket Association of Bengal CAB. Speaking to The Indian Express, CESC chief spokesman Biswarup Mukherjee said: 8220;There8217;s nothing wrong with our supply line to Eden. If the floodlights keep going off, it must be CAB8217;s internal problem. Our responsibility is to ensure that the power supply up to Eden is alright and there8217;s no problem on that front. Ask CAB if they have been thorough with the maintenance of the floodlights.8221; CAB chief Prasun Mukherjee, for his part, blamed the failure of lights to the windstorm, explaining 8220;the cyclonic weather, coupled by lightning strikes8221; caused the bulbs to go off.