People used to sleep in John Buchanan's team meetings, don't glorify him: Salman Butt
Salman Butt has raised an objection to the "glorifying" of World Cup-winning coach John Buchanan. Butt, who played under Buchanan during his stint with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2008, said the Australian was a 'high-tech' man who used to bore his players to sleep during team meetings.
John Buchanan was the head coach of the legendary Ricky Ponting-led Australian team that won three consecutive World Cups from 1999 to 2007. However, his contributions were always in question, with many believing that he simply inherited a great team. At KKR, his "multiple captaincy" strategy courted a lot of criticism, and he was ousted in 2009 after the team failed to perform as expected.
Salman Butt said Buchanan wasn't successful in any other coaching assignments since the Australians would have won even without a coach.
"John Buchanan was a very high-tech coach. He used to have long meetings. I have also run teams and I am not a fan of such long meetings where players fall asleep. Players used to fall asleep in his meetings and he's been part of a lot of coaching projects around the world but none were successful. The Australian team was a massive side, it wouldn't have mattered if they didn't have a coach at all. Australian players have written the same in their books as well. He was a decent man but the glorifying of his coaching [is wrong]. Give any coach such players and the results will be similar," Salman Butt remarked on his YouTube channel.
While Ponting once commended Buchanan for his contributions to the team, players like Shane Warne were often dismissive of his convoluted coaching style.
Salman Butt played under Buchanan's tutelage during his only year in the IPL. He was a part of seven matches, scoring 193 runs at an average of 27.57. KKR, despite starting the inaugural game with a bang, finished sixth in the points table that season.
"I have a lot of respect for Sourav Ganguly" - Salman Butt
Salman Butt spoke highly of his only IPL captain and current BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly. He hailed Ganguly's soft-spoken nature, astute captaincy and the care with which he led the team.
"He was a good captain, there's no doubt about that, he captained India very well. He's very soft spoken, keeps the team with utmost care and a brilliant player too. I have a lot of respect for him. No, no, he was not at all strict. I have played with him, against him and under his captaincy as well, he was never strict," concluded Salman Butt.