It’s almost certain that Kolkata Knight Riders (or shall we only say Knight Riders?) will have a new skipper next season. Brendon McCullum has said he will resign from captaincy if the team fail to get to the semi-finals, and that scenario looks far more likely than the most disjointed side of the tournament winning six of their remaining eight matches.

The Knight Riders are a popular team in South Africa. Owner Shah Rukh Khan has been able to sell team jerseys on the strength of his brand value, but the merit of the squad he has put so much in — both money-wise and emotionally — is now being questioned quite openly. Also being questioned is his prudence as a cricket investor.

KKR’s inability to find a winning combination in South Africa has clearly not been for the want of trying. On the night before a match, they lined up at Sun Coast Cinema trying to take their minds off the game; on the morning of a match, they hit the practice nets to get their touch going; they put up six different XIs in as many games; and they sent back two players after just one innings each.

But their shortcomings seem too many to iron out overnight. They don’t really have the option of chopping and changing because their squad neither has enough depth nor does it have any trump card hidden in its folds.

In fact, there is an interesting parallel from the not-too-distant past — Team India at the 2007 World Cup. That side had Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh; KKR have Chris Gayle, McCullum, Brad Hodge, Ganguly, Ishant Sharma and Ajantha Mendis. That team was ruled with an iron hand by coach Greg Chappell; here John Buchannan is in complete control. That team was humbled by Bangladesh and failed to get into the Super Eights; KKR are half-drowned already, almost certain to return from South Africa in an introspective mood.

... contd.