Controversy has brought team closer: Buchanan

Kushan Sarkar / TNN / May 25, 2008, 03:05 IST

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Whenever one broaches the topic of Shane Warne, John Buchanan's immediate reaction is to take an evasive action.

Controversy has brought team closer: Buchanan

KOLKATA: Whenever one broaches the topic of Shane Warne, John Buchanan's immediate reaction is to take an evasive action. During the marathon IPL, the former Australian coach has been asked on the legendary leggie innumerable times and he has dealt with it with a defined and definite caution.
On the eve of his team's last IPL match of the season, the Kolkata Knight Riders coach decided it's time to step out of the defensive mould and take the poser on the chin.According to him, one IPL tournament can't be the parameter for judging Warne's calibre as a skipper and coach.
"Shane has obviously done well in this IPL. But I don't think that the IPL will be the correct parameter to judge his captaincy or coaching skills. When you judge the capabilities of a leader or a coach that should be done over a considerable period of time... Say three to four years. A quality coach or captain can only be judged when he has seen both highs and lows during a considerable period and also led or coached a side in all forms of the game," Buchanan told a news conference before taking his knights to the Eden for a practice session ahead of their match against Team Mohali.
He was, however, honest in admitting that a lot of things had gone wrong for Knight Riders in the tournament.

Haryana

Jammu & Kashmir

Haryana

Alliance View
i
Party View

Seats: 90

L + W

Majority: 46

BJP

48

CONG

37

INLD

2

AAP

0

OTH

3

Leads + Wins: 90/90

BJP LEADING

Source: PValue

"We have to address a whole range of issues and set the house in order in the one year time from now. It will be nice if the ICC can fit in the IPL in its calendar so that we do not face the difficulties in the coming seasons that we have faced this time.
"It will be nice to have players whose services we can avail of throughout the tournament," he said, referring to the departure of the likes of Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Brad Hodge for national duty.

He also scotched the rumours of an alleged rift between owner Shah Rukh Khan and skipper Sourav Ganguly.
"On the contrary, these incorrect reports have brought the team closer. The whole team is together in this hour of crisis," he pointed out.
However he sounded a tad unconvincing while replying to queries on not promoting somebody like Laxmi Ratan Shukla or Wriddhiman Saha, despite the top order's repeated failures.
"Our batting didn't fire. I believe that players like Shukla, Saha, Ashok Dinda and Debabrata Das will form the nucleus of the team next year. They have exceeded expectations this year and will be entrusted with more responsibilities in the next edition," he said.

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