Hours after chief coach John Buchanan announced in his presence that the Kolkata Knight Riders would have four “rotating captains” this IPL season, Sourav Ganguly, who led the team last year, hit back saying “these are all opinions” and “tomorrow I can jump out and say we need four batting coaches, four John Buchanans and Shah Rukh Khan can say we need six Andy Bichels.”

“These are all opinions... I think it is his (Buchanan’s) idea, he wants to do that. We’ve to wait and see whether it actually happens in the team or not. It’s too premature to say anything on that because he feels that’s the way Twenty20 cricket should be played,” Ganguly told NDTV.

Earlier, at a press conference where it was announced that the Knight Riders were doing away with the single-skipper concept to split leadership duties four ways, Buchanan took most of the questions while Ganguly sat alongside.

Before Ganguly could reply to a question whether he was upset, Buchanan put his arm around him and said, “Yes, he’s obviously upset. After all, he’s the king of Kolkata.” Ganguly simply smiled and said: “I’m not upset.” He later said that the plans hadn’t been discussed with him and that he got to know of the move through the media. Buchanan, meanwhile, explained the thought-process behind the move. “We have high-calibre players in the side. Many of them are experienced players. We are going to use their experience. Some of the players have better knowledge of our opponents. So we need more players giving in their inputs,” he said.