Kolkata battle with Indian vs foreigner divide

Kolkatas Director of Cricket Operations John Buchanan declined to comment on the allegation,saying it was too inane a comment to comment on and denied that there was a divide in the team. All these speculations about the team divided are rubbish and I call these speculations ridiculous, he said.

But a team source said several players in the squad were reportedly unhappy that Buchanan has time and again blamed the Indian bowlers for the teams defeats,while sparing the the foreign recruits who had failed to fire with the bat until Tuesdays game. In every match we have to bowl with a limited target,yet we take the match close. Why are we always blamed? John is yet to have any strong words to his own set of players, a team member told The Indian Express.

After the rained-out match that we won,we were told that a rotation system was in place and some of the Indian players would be kept out because John wanted to have all players match-fit for the semis. But he kept retaining the same foreigners every time, the player added.

Another source alleged that Laxmi Ratan Shukla,despite being amongst the teams better performers,had been benched after the Bengal all-rounder slammed the team management for suggesting that they would like to play an extra foreigner in the XI.

The players said they had complained to owner Shah Rukh Khan and that he had sent an SMS back to the them asking them to show restraint until the end of the season. A team source said the two Sri Lankan players in the team,Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews,and Bangladeshs Mashrafe Mortaza,were also upset with Buchanans policies. None of the teams other players and officials were available for comments.