First the city was replaced as their home. Then its name was taken out of the team. Then the Prince was dethroned. Amazing...how fast the Kolkata Knight Riders' tale is turning into a political drama.
The City of Joy perhaps felt the most blessed when the Badshah and the Prince teamed up together. That John "Buck" Buchanan was roped in as the coach and Joy Bhattacharya as the Director of Operations added to the cricketing and business appeal of Brand KKR. The blitzkrieg of Brendom McCullum, the controversy surrounding Shoaib Akhtar, the Prince of Kolkata, Shahrukh and his friends...the heady mix ensured KKR was the most 'in' team of the season. Rajasthan went on to win one match after the other, Priety continued hugging Yuvi, Sachin kept on postponing his IPL debut...Shahrukh and his Knights kept on generating public interest despite their on-field anitcs (or the lack of it?)
Everything was going perfect for the Knights...untill one fine day when the media reported a growing difference between the team’s charismatic owner and its talismanic captain. Suddenly the KKR camp became a Machiavellian story. Apparently Shahrukh and John Buchanan had teamed up against Bengal’s favorite boy. And then when the grapevines were bursting with Dada going the same way as Laxman or Dravid, he came up with a brilliant knock in KKR’s final game. It didn’t save the match, but it apparently had saved him his crown.
IPL ended and the 3 principal characters of the KKR drama went their separate ways. Where Buchanan started talent scouting camps, Shahrukh built a six pack and Sourav started judging a cheerleader reality show.
Cut to March, 2009 when Mr. Modi finally found a place secure enough to host IPL Season 2 and consequently brought together (again) the 3 principal characters of the KKR drama. The owner was happy that IPL was finally happening, the captain was happy he could hit some more balls (!) and Buck…what was he thinking? He was the busiest of them all…always had been since Season 1 had ended…plotting the ouster of Sourav. What's that ol' Bengali saying that two tigers can't rule the same forest?
But of course he couldn’t do it outright or he wouldn’t have been able to return to Kolkata. So he floated his multiple captain theory. Eh? Did you say? Well, don’t. Its John Buchanan’s theory – the same guy who had taken Australia to their pinnacle, the same coach whom Shane Warne had called a “goose with verbal diarrhoea”!
The question is – is Shahrukh Khan contemplating taking the Kolkata out of the Kolkata Knight Riders? Why else would he want to call his team Knight Riders for IPL Season 2 (as has been reported in the media)? Why else would he give the green signal to John Buchanan’s logic-defying theory? I am tempted to go into the pros and cons of the theory, but for the fact that it will be a pointless deliberation. Coming back to my question, it will be unfortunate if Shahrukh decides to shift the Knights out of Kolkata. Agreed that Dalmiya’s return to the CAB has created problems galore for King Khan, but is it feasible for Shahrukh to take KKR (or Knight Riders, as it stands now) out of Kolkata? The major cricket centers of the country already have a team representing them in the IPL. Oh….hold on…Ahmedabad is still open!
So what now King Khan, Ahmedabad Knight Riders? There’s just one li’l problem – the Prince of Kolkata ain’t quite the guy to take things lying down. And he certainly has the ability to think and act like Machiavelli’s Prince.
As IPL Season 2 inches closer all I can say is that “Picture abhi baaki hain mere dost!”
IPL ended and the 3 principal characters of the KKR drama went their separate ways. Where Buchanan started talent scouting camps, Shahrukh built a six pack and Sourav started judging a cheerleader reality show.
Cut to March, 2009 when Mr. Modi finally found a place secure enough to host IPL Season 2 and consequently brought together (again) the 3 principal characters of the KKR drama. The owner was happy that IPL was finally happening, the captain was happy he could hit some more balls (!) and Buck…what was he thinking? He was the busiest of them all…always had been since Season 1 had ended…plotting the ouster of Sourav. What's that ol' Bengali saying that two tigers can't rule the same forest?
But of course he couldn’t do it outright or he wouldn’t have been able to return to Kolkata. So he floated his multiple captain theory. Eh? Did you say? Well, don’t. Its John Buchanan’s theory – the same guy who had taken Australia to their pinnacle, the same coach whom Shane Warne had called a “goose with verbal diarrhoea”!
The question is – is Shahrukh Khan contemplating taking the Kolkata out of the Kolkata Knight Riders? Why else would he want to call his team Knight Riders for IPL Season 2 (as has been reported in the media)? Why else would he give the green signal to John Buchanan’s logic-defying theory? I am tempted to go into the pros and cons of the theory, but for the fact that it will be a pointless deliberation. Coming back to my question, it will be unfortunate if Shahrukh decides to shift the Knights out of Kolkata. Agreed that Dalmiya’s return to the CAB has created problems galore for King Khan, but is it feasible for Shahrukh to take KKR (or Knight Riders, as it stands now) out of Kolkata? The major cricket centers of the country already have a team representing them in the IPL. Oh….hold on…Ahmedabad is still open!
So what now King Khan, Ahmedabad Knight Riders? There’s just one li’l problem – the Prince of Kolkata ain’t quite the guy to take things lying down. And he certainly has the ability to think and act like Machiavelli’s Prince.
As IPL Season 2 inches closer all I can say is that “Picture abhi baaki hain mere dost!”
