It was tough for owners: KKR CEO on not retaining Ganguly in 2011


It was tough for owners: KKR CEO on not retaining Ganguly in 2011

gautam gambhit venky mysore 2

Sourav Ganguly led the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008 and 2010’s edition

KKR CEO Venky Mysore had joined the Knight Rider’s franchise in 2010. As he looks back at the time when the franchise had to take the call on dropping Sourav Ganguly in 2011. As per him, the decision of not retaining Ganguly was more emotional for the owners. 

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Venky Mysore’s proposal to not retain Sourav Ganguly 

“I’ll break that down into two parts. Personally, for me, it didn’t see like a big decision (not retaining Sourav Ganguly), only because I was unattached. If I had been part of the organisation for three years, or two years or one year, it would have been a tougher decision,” Mysore said in the latest episode of ‘The RK show’ uploaded on Youtube. 

“This was like someone completely coming in from the outside, which I was, literally from the outside. Eventually, I realised, that for the organisation and for the owners, it was tough. It’s a decision and an approach that I proposed as I was given the mandate,” he added. 

The cash-rich Indian Premier League started in 2008 with marquee players leading the eight franchise. Kolkata Knight Riders went in with The Prince of Bengal Sourav Ganguly as their captain.  

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Sourav Ganguly’s horrific show in IPL 

from left tor right Gautam Gambhit (extreme left) and Venky Mysore (extreme right)

Sourav Ganguly is one of the highest-rated captains of Indian cricket. He had a lot of accomplishments comprising winning NatWest trophy, Champions Trophy 2002, being runner-up of the World Cup 2003, and providing a number of incredible match winners to the team. 

However, Ganguly’s journey in the IPL went haywire since the 1st edition itself. In 2008 KKR stood 6th even with a start studded line up. Things got worse in the second season as then KKR coach John Buchanan decided to adopt the multiple captains with Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge along with Ganguly giving try outs. As confusing as it sounds, KKR finished at the bottom of the table. Ganguly was handed over the captaincy back in 2010 where in KKR again stood 6th

Eventually in the 2012 edition KKR went in with young and aggressive Gautam Gambhir as their leader. Removing Dada from his home team saw a tremendous backlash from the local public. They were not able to imagine Kolkata’s team playing at the Eden Gardens without their beloved local hero. 

But Gambhir was able to regain the trust of all as he won the title twice in 4 years. KKR till date remains one of the strongest competitors to play in the league.

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