When Shah Rukh Khan bought the Kolkata franchise of the IPL and forged a team with Sourav Ganguly, fans of the country's two most lovable icons thanked 'Rab' for the making of this 'jodi'. They saw the coming together of Bollywood's Baazigar and Kolkata's Prince Charming as a win-win combo. The marketing machinery went into overdrive to promote this new partnership and Kolkata Knight Riders emerged as the "most visible" brand of IPL 1.
Finishing sixth among eight teams was not exactly the kind of result that measured up to the hype surrounding KKR, but a few stirring victories indicated that with a little more push and a small dose of luck, Sourav's Knights had it in them to go all the way in Season Two. However, when push came to shove, and the tournament was moved out of India last year, John Buchanan, the erstwhile KKR coach, instead of building on the positives of 2008, chose to ram his "multiple-captain" theory down the throats of his bewildered Knights, who were 'slaughtered' mercilessly in South Africa.
In a span of six weeks, KKR went from being the biggest brand in IPL to the biggest joke in world cricket. With every loss, KKR fans grew more and more restive and as their venom spilled into cyberspace, it became pretty evident that KKR would finish at the bottom of the heap. They did.
One could write a book on KKR's failings, for it is a case study in how not to run a team, but it would suffice to say that their management not only displayed a clear lack of aptitude on recruitment and selection issues, but also a myopic vision for a team that aspires to be the best.
The good thing about reality is that when it bites, you feel the pain and it stirs you into action. KKR's disastrous second attempt at IPL glory finally shook the team management out of their self-imposed stupor and they responded positively by bidding Buchanan bye-bye and reaffirming their faith in Sourav, who must now steer the team's fortunes along with new coach Dav Whatmore.
The early signs look good. Loads of deadwood, accumulated in the course of the past two years, have been let go and quality recruitments like Shane Bond, Rohan Gavaskar, Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary have been made. In keeping with Sourav's line of thinking, the pool of homegrown talent has been enhanced with the induction of a youngsters like Harshad Khadiwale, Chirag Pathak and Varun Aaron. Whatmore, who gave up his NCA job to take the KKR hotseat, is excited to be returning to competitive coaching. "This means there will be more competition for places in the playing XI," he said.
The batting department certainly looks well-stacked. It augurs well for KKR because they now have both quality and depth in their ranks to tide over the initial period when they will miss their star foreigners like Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and David Hussey.
The best thing about KKR is the quality of firepower they have in their ranks, both in batting as well as the bowling departments. The likes of Gayle, Ganguly, McCullum, Hussey, Angelo Mathews and Tiwary are all capable of turning the heat on rival attacks, while Bond, Ishant, Ashok Dinda and Ajantha Mendis are all wicket-taking bowlers. "I know it's a batsman's game, but I still feel that bowlers have an equally big role to play in T20," Whatmore said.
However, there are a couple of areas that need working on. The Knights are not the best movers and shakers on the field and bowling at the death has been a problem. "We need to be sharper in the field and take our catches," Whatmore agrees, adding that he intends to keep pushing his wards in this area.
So, should KKR fans start dreaming again? "Of course! We want to win it badly. A lot of things have to fall in place, so we are going to focus on one thing at a time. Right now, we want to get off to a winning start," he added.
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