Crown of Thorns for McCullum

By Gulu Ezekiel

‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ is one of those clichéd sayings we were taught in school.
I am not sure which school Shah Rukh Khan and John Buchanan went to, but perhaps learning such sayings was not part of the curriculum.
The IPL has certainly been given the kiss of life with Thursday’s twin thrillers. But one can be sure the Kolkata Knight Riders do not share in the general enthusiasm.
After all that hot air over the joint-captains theory, the crown of thorns was handed to Brian McCullum.
The man who set the IPL alight on the opening day of the inaugural season last year now looks like a fish out of water.
The Kiwi ‘keeper/opener is obviously finding the pressure overpowering and his batting has suffered a nosedive as a result.
Even the multi-talented MS Dhoni does not keep wickets, captain his side AND open the batting. With scores of 1, 21 and 3, KKR have dealt themselves a double-whammy. They dispensed with the canny services of ex-captain Sourav Ganguly and lost a star batsman in the bargain.
But just as in the Wild Wild West where there would be room for just one champion gunslinger in a town, the KKR also appears to have place for just one giant ego. How long that ego can keep taking the battering of defeat is a story that is still unfolding.
If they had been winning, SRK and Buchanan’s would have been crowing over their bizarre tactics. Now that they are sliding down the table, they must put their hands up and take responsibility. And surely the decision to push Ganguly down the order and give the ‘super over’ to Ajantha Mendis was the decision of the coach alone.
Shane Warne probably can’t wipe that grin off his face. He has once again put his two bete noirs in their place, both Buchanan and Ganguly. No wonder they call him a wizard.
www.sportshero.com (25/4/09)