Showing posts with label Sunil Gavaskar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunil Gavaskar. Show all posts

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Shah Rukh slams Gavaskar for criticising Buchanan

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Shah Rukh slams Gavaskar for criticising Buchanan


MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan took a dig at former India captain Sunil Gavaskar for ridiculing John Buchanan's multiple-captain theory saying he bought the team and would run it the way he wants.

Former Australia World Cup winning coach Buchanan, who is now manager of Kolkata Knight Riders, had suggested the four captain theory for the second season of the Indian Premier League that has ruffled a few feathers, including that of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.

"I have great respect for Mr Gavaskar. I have grown up enjoying his performance as well as KR Vishwanath and Kapil's. We all respect him too much but having said that I would like to say that please give it (the multiple-captain theory) a breathing space to try now. If we fail we can always go back to the traditional way," Shah Rukh said at a media conference in Mumbai on Sunday to announce new initiatives with Team sponsors Nokia.

The Bollywood star said he has spent a lot of money in buying the team and would like to run it as he deems fit.

"I have spent lot of money on my team. If you have a problem then you buy your own team and run it the way you want," he said, in an obvious response to Gavaskar's comments.

India's batting legend Gavaskar, in a newspaper column, had criticised Buchanan's theory saying too much importance is being accorded to the Australian, who is a failed first-class cricketer and is only trying to get lucrative jobs for "his Queensland pals".

"To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn't deserve but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR.

"They have a very big support staff which includes his son and most of them are from Queensland. The owners - poor souls - have little idea that they are being milked," Gavaskar had written.

Shah Rukh, meanwhile, said he would rather try the multiple captain idea and fail than not giving it a chance at all.

"Twenty20 cricket is a new format and last time we did not do well after going by the traditional way (one captain). This time Buchanan will try multiple captaincy in the practice game before the IPL starts in South Africa and see whether he succeeds or not," the Bollywood star said.

Buchanan's concept has generated lot of controversy ahead of the April 18 to May 24 IPL to be held in eight cities of South Africa.

Sourav Ganguly, who led the team last year, had expressed resentment to the multiple captain idea.

The former India captain and Buchanan have had lengthy discussions with Shah Rukh at his residence to thrash out the issues.

Shah Rukh on Sunday pointed out that the concept had been tried out last year itself by Kings XI Punjab.

"It was tried out last year itself by the Mohali team which had a fielding captain (Kumar Sangakkara), a batting captain, a bowling captain and an overall captain Yuvraj Singh," he said.

The Bollywood star gave the example of cricket's cousin baseball which has coaches giving instructions from outside the field to the pitchers, batters and others.

Shah Rukh also expressed hope that his team would perform much better than last year.

"All our players like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Sourav Ganguly, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Ishant Sharma, Mashrafe Mortaza are available," he said.

"Almost 97 to 98 per cent of the players are available and it's a strong line-up. I hope the team performs better than last year," Shah Rukh said.

Source: http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/SRK-slams-Gavaskar-for-criticising-Buchanan-/articleshow/4362502.cms

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Kapil's 175 best ODI innings ever: Gavaskar

June 03, 2008 22:24 IST
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday described Kapil Dev's unbeaten 175-run knock against Zimbabwe during India's successful 1983 World Cup campaign as the "best one-day innings" ever.

Gavaskar recalled that it was a match that India had to win to enter the semi-final.
"When you had lost half of your side with less than 20 runs on the board, obviously it was not looking good. But this gentleman (Kapil Dev) went out and played his innings...best innings I had seen in limited overs international.

"That 175 has to be in my view the greatest knock in the World Cup," Gavaskar said while speaking at a media meet, arranged by the UB Group.

The UB Group would host a gala dinner for the 1983 World Cup winning team in London on June 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic triumph.

Kapil Dev said captaining the 1983 side was not difficult as everybody was playing well at the time.
He said even after he took that famous catch of Vivian Richards off Madan Lal, the final match was still open as Clive Lloyd was still at the crease.

"Lloyd was the most dangerous player", Kapil Dev said. But Gavaskar insisted it was that catch indeed which took India to the last-four stage of the elite event.

"Kapil's 175 got us into semi-final...that catch (Richards) got us the final."
Members of the 1983 World Cup team, Roger Binny and Syed Kirmani, also shared their experience.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said the Board would hold a special event in Delhi on June 22 to felicitate the players of the 1983 team.
UB Group officials said the the entire 1983 World Cup winning team would be touring the Lord's on June 25.

Kapil Dev and Gavaskar also presented a special cricket bat signed by World Cup winning team. The bat would be encrusted with diamonds and auctioned by the UB Group in association with auction house e-bay.

The proceeds of the auction would go to the members of the 1983 team, officials said.