Shah Rukh Khan, known for his witty and fiery answers, did not hold back when the legendary Gavaskar commented on KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – allow us to lay down some of our opinions here. In our book of thoughts, KKR has to be the strangest franchise in the league’s history. Despite splurging tonnes of moolah and starting with some of the best names in the world of cricket, KKR did not find immediate success.
And when the team did, it worked with weird combinations and lesser-known players who were churned into superstars. In short, KKR works in peculiar ways. On some days, they are dominating, and then suddenly, for a lengthy period, the team feels like it doesn’t know how to hold a bat or throw a ball.
Speaking of peculiarity, in 2009, KKR’s then-coach, John Buchanan, announced a strategy that baffled the cricket world – the four-captain theory.
In a press conference ahead of the 2009 season, the Australia coach said that KKR would feature four different captains: Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, and Brad Hogg.
Once the word spread, it shocked the entire management. In fact, within a week, a four-hour meeting was held at Shah Rukh Khan’s Mumbai residence, Mannat, and the concept was quickly squashed.
Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, was dropped from captaincy, and Brendon McCullum was handed over the team’s charge.
When Buchanan’s concept theory was doing the rounds in the air, several criticised the idea, including Sunil Gavaskar.
The former legendary batsman had his say, but in his statement, he even criticised the owners, i.e., Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and other stakeholders. Gavaskar’s exact words were, “To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn’t deserve, but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR. The owners – poor souls – have little idea that they are being milked.”
SRK did not take the words lightly and hit back at Gavaskar by saying, “Maine paisa kharch kiya yaar, bahut passion hai (I have spent the money; there’s too much passion). If you have a problem, you can buy your own (team) and run it the way you want.”
Given how we know Shah Rukh Khan to be a humble person who usually doesn’t lose his temper, he sent an apology to Gavaskar. During an interaction with PTI, Khan also mentioned, “If Gavaskar asks me to walk on my head and run the team, I would. Anything that Gavaskar says that has to do with cricket, if he mentions it, should be followed. I have not said anything against Gavaskar. I just wanted to have a breathing space to try something new. I have sent him an apology letter if he felt so because he was in America at that time.”
As for KKR, under McCullum’s captaincy, the team finished in the bottom place in 2009 compared to sixth in 2008 under Ganguly. The next season, John Buchanan was shown the exit game, and in his place, Dav Whatmore was hired, with Ganguly regaining the captaincy.
