How the Knights became the King's men

Too hot, too cool – All the King’s men we rule!

How much of a lie had that been? And how much of a lie is that now? Obviously, the answers will be different. After flattering to deceive in the first season, Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the most fancied outfits in IPL, slumped to new lows of shame as they finished at the bottom of the table in the next season. They crawled back a bit in Season III but that didn’t do justice to their potentials. However, some drastic changes in the squad and some brave decisions turned their fate around and they, for the first time, looked dominant enough. Qualifying to the Champions League boosted their confidence and they have staged another comeback this season which now sees them sitting comfortably at No. 2 on the table.

So what were the changes that turned round the luck for KKR? The very first thing that comes to your mind (and perhaps, the most important one too) is the change in leadership. From having Sourav Ganguly at the helm, KKR changed to Delhi-lad Gautam Gambhir who immediately took over the responsibilty and started producing the results for the team. Let us make a comparative analysis of the two captains (ignoring Brendon McCullum’s short stint as the skipper) through various aspects.

Adjusting to the role

Sourav : Being the Dada of Kolkata, Sourav faced no difficulty to be the skipper as he was the only choice and the Calcuttans could never think beyond him. Sourav had been one of the most successful captains of India and leadership came naturally to him. Moreover, the critics were so much in awe of this Comeback King, that they completely ignored the few glitches that were there in his captaincy.

Gambhir : He was aware of the difficulty of winning the hearts of the people who had ceased supporting the home-team in absence of Dada. The Calcuttans had raised a hue and cry over the franchisee’s decision to leave out Ganguly from the squad. It needed a brave and patient effort from Gambhir to silence the critics and earn the respect from the home-crowd. He did not fail and did his best calling himself a Calcutta-boy and finally he did succeed in gaining the support from his fans.

The squads

Sourav : Frankly speaking, he had the best team but an unbalanced one. KKR never got the right combination together and that cost them as they failed miserably despite having big names like Chris Gayle, Shoib Akhtar, Shane Bond, Brad Hodge in the ranks.

Gambhir : He too has a good team and has marshaled his resources cleverly. He has kept the same team for quite a few matches and has stressed on making as few experiments as possible. It has helped in clearing out insecurity from the players’ minds so that they can play freely and give their best effort.

Individual form

Sourav : He has been pretty good with the bat with useful contributions but his strike rate has been too poor in comparison to the T20 format. Also, he never had enough support from the other end and often used to end up being the one who would hold the innings together instead of the one who can lead the attack.

Gambhir : He has been brilliant of late and has emerged as the highest scorer in IPL V from the KKR squad. His team-mates have supported him well and he has looked ominous with an average of 37.9 at a strike-rate of 131.76.

Brave gestures

Sourav : He has always been vocal on the field encouraging his team-mates to perform well. But there have been moments where Sourav has lacked gestures that may have proved to be critical for his team. Besides, he hasn’t done enough to infuse confidence into his team-mates.

Gambhir : He has evolved as an excellent man-manager according to coach Trevor Bayliss. Like Sourav, he is vocal on the field and leads by example. He has avoided limelight playing himself down and appreciating the team’s good work. Giving away his Man of the Match award to local boy Debabrata Das proved to be a good example of his ability to infuse confidence into the youngsters.

Support from the management

This is what separates the two captains. While Sourav had a tough time with John Buchanan, as the coach that gave way to a number of controversies, Gambhir has been lucky enough to get along well with Trevor Bayliss. Sourav’s uncomfortable relation with Buchanan affected KKR’s chances badly; add to that the uproar brought by a mysterious blogger who seemed to divulge team news. On the other hand, Gambhir has been comfortable with Dav Whatmore and Trevor Bayliss which has provided rich dividends for his side.

All in all, Ganguly still stands ways ahead of Gambhir given his success record against top teams in the International arena, but when it comes to IPL, things seem to have evened out quite a bit. An average Calcuttan may still have some disappointment in his heart for Ganguly, but as long as KKR keeps winning, they should be ecstatic about their new leader – Gautam Gambhir.