Xtra Time Web Desk: Did Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Sheryas Iyer opened a pandora’s box by talking about CEO Venky Mysore’s involvement in team selection? Is everything okay within the Knight Riders’ camp? Has the franchise living up to the tradition of interfering into team selection matters? Well, the above questions have cropped up ever since Shreyas made his comment during the post-match presentation after the game against Mumbai Indians.
More reports are emerging on KKR CEO Venky Mysore’s involvement in selection matters.
According to reports, KKR CEO has been involved in team selections on numerous occasions for the last few seasons. Quite a few senior and international players were so annoyed with his interference at different points in time that some even contemplated leaving the camp midway during the previous editions of the cash rich league.
During the time Gautam Gambhir as KKR captain, the CEO mostly stayed in the background. But post Gambhir era, the CEO’s involvement in team matters, both big and small, increased.
And the tradition continued in the Kolkata based franchise. It was evident during Sourav Ganguly’s tenure as KKR captain when the KKR management tried to interfere in selection matters. Shreyas’ comment is just the tip of ice-berg.
Knight Riders has used five different opening combinations in 12 games. The Kolkata franchise has tried as many as 20 players in the ongoing edition, the most by any teams,
The comment by Iyer raised eyebrows. And the questions started doing the rounds, where does the power centre lie? Does Shreyas have the leeway to be his own man? Is he the one making selection decisions?
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer & Co’s playoffs hopes are still alive after they registered a 52-run win against Mumbai Indians. KKR not only will need to win their remaining matches by a big margin, but also have to depend on the outcome of other matches.