The relationship between former Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan and Sourav Ganguly was one of the talking points of the Indian Premier League. In his book, The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20 (191 pages, Rs 295), Buchanan talks about all the things they agreed to disagree on. On June 17, Buchanan’s contract as KKR’s director of cricket was terminated. An extract by arrangement with the publisher, Orient Paperbacks:

Our 2008 captain Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, or Dada as he is affectionately nicknamed, is a fascinating character, a man of contradictions. I am sure psychologists would find him intriguing. I found him a gentleman to work with yet I finished the tournament still feeling I didn’t know him.

I went into the IPL with an open mind about Sourav, who had been an antagonist of Australian sides I coached. He is a lovely person but lives in his own world. He used to drive Stephen Waugh crazy by being late for the toss. That might have been partly strategic but also he was simply unaware of its importance. He would be in the rooms, in his own world, when he would be told it was time for the toss. He would not be ready, and would have to get changed before meeting his by-now irritated opposing captain.

Ganguly has always had the ability to mentally unsettle his opponents. It was not always by design, but Waugh saw it as a lack of respect and common courtesy. At times I feel Sourav is guilty of that, but on other occasions I believe he is simply in his own world and loses track of time. He gives off the impression that he feels everything will happen in good time, but it will be in his good time. He is not too concerned with other people’s views about him...

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