Adored by the Kolkata faithful, he was installed as captain of the Knight Riders side because he was the icon player, a hometown hero and an ex-Indian captain. Yet crowning him captain, while logical on paper, was a decision that I was to grapple with throughout the tournament.

I told the squad from the outset that my philosophy is anyone in our team should be able to lead the side. I told the group that I wanted to establish 11 leaders on the field, so it did not matter all that much who had a ‘C’ for captain next to their name. I made the comment that everyone should be a leader on the field and therefore the captain was not so important. The press interpreted that as me saying I didn’t want Sourav as captain. I think Sourav was wary or at least uncertain of my philosophy too. I explained my rationale and I think he understood what I was trying to achieve, although I am sure he too grappled with thoughts of the coach wanting to replace him.

Just before leaving for South Africa for the 2009 tournament, I had an almost four-hour meeting in Mumbai with Sourav, Shah Rukh and Jai Mehta. We subsequently released a statement stressing that there would be only one captain, who would be fed suggestions from a core group of on-field strategists. Some, like Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, have been critical of the concept — and me — but Shah Rukh backed my desire for innovation. Only time and experience will tell if the idea will work in practice, but I think it can and will...

... contd.