Sourav knew about captaincy plan: Buchanan

The controversy surrounding the Kolkata Knight Riders team over coach John Buchanan’s idea of rotating captaincy took another twist when the Australian claimed that he had discussed the matter with captain Sourav Ganguly before announcing it.

“I had discussed in detail with Sourav about his future role in the team after the last IPL season. It was not new to him at all,” Buchanan was quoted as saying by a Bengali daily on Friday.

When it was brought to his notice that Ganguly had said he had not been consulted in the matter, Buchanan said, “At least I can say that we had discussed the necessity for creating new leadership”.

Ganguly had earlier in a television interview said he had no idea about Buchanan’s new concept on captaincy and came to know about it through the media.

Asked whether Shah Rukh Khan, owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, had been consulted, the former Australian coach said, “SRK has given me complete freedom”.

He said the whole controversy was a media creation. To a question as to who could be the KKR captain for the forthcoming championship in South Africa, Buchanan said besides Ganguly, the team had (Chris) Gayle and (Brendon) McCullum.

Meanwhile, the KKR camp continued at the Eden Gardens for the third day today with four other players, former India opener Akash Chopra, leg spinner Iqbal Abdullah, all rounder Shoaib Shaikh and off-spinner Mohnish Parmar joining the practice

IPL headed to South Africa?

The second season of the IPL could take place in South Africa. Late on Monday evening, the IPL shifted from England as its preferred choice, to South Africa.

IPL big boss Lalit Modi has flown to South Africa, though he is also scheduled to fly to England later on. Modi says the big worry with England is the threat of rain disrupting matches.

The IPL runs from 10th April to 24th May. However the real reason for the change could be that South Africa is far more willing to lay out the red carpet for the IPL in terms of venues and government support.

ICC ‘surprised’ by IPL shifting out of India

International Cricket Council President David Morgan was taken by surprise at the BCCI’s decision to shift IPL out of India and felt it would be difficult for any country to stage the Twenty20 event at such short notice.

“That is quite surprising news, they have had real difficulties with the elections on in India,” he said on Sunday (March 22).

“I honestly don’t know (where it will be staged) but the rumours were that South Africa was a likely relocation destination but there has been nothing official. It’s the beginning of the season in England and Wales and there is a lot of Twenty20 cricket being played including the ICC World Twenty20. I do think there will be great difficulties in relocating it,” Morgan was quoted as saying on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

The BCCI decided to stage the lucrative IPL, which proved to be hugely popular last year, on foreign soil after the Indian government told the organisers it may not be possible to provide adequate security during the event due to upcoming general elections

Pietersen considering pulling out of IPL

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) most expensive player Kevin Pietersen has joined the ever growing list of overseas players who are considering pulling out of the lucrative Twenty20 league on grounds of security.

“I will be consulting as many people as I can but if I don’t think it is right, then I will not be going,” the former England captain was quoted as saying by the News of the World on Sunday.

Pietersen was bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers for a whopping $1.55 million. Pietersen said that after the Mumbai terror attacks and the Lahore incident, where gunmen sprayed bullets on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus, players will be more mindful of their own security when they travel to the sub-continent.

“After this final Test against the West Indies, I will be speaking to Bangalore, to the ECB, to my agent and to security advisors. Then I will be a lot clearer in my thoughts than I am now. Since the terror attacks in Mumbai we are all now more mindful of our own security arrangements,” he said.

IPL season 2…. on threat?

After the meeting between the BCCI and the IPL governing council over the IPL schedule, which clashes with the LS elections, chairman Lalit Modi addressed the media and said that the event will go on as per the earlier dates — April 10-May 24. However, the revised schedule of the matches will be released officially after intense discussions between the state govts and other governing bodies. Confirming that only on blackout days, matches will not be held in that particular city, Modi also added that no match will be held in any location on the counting day i.e. May 16. However, sources said that the opening ceremony has been shifted from Jaipur to Mumbai