Shahrukh's feeling the heat over not retaining Dada. Plans to hire him as a mentor when he's fit enough to play.
With this move he's making another mistake over his earlier one.
Should've done this before the auction.
(Imagine Mumbai Indian's without Sachin)
While money & respect never go hand in hand, he should've understood & respected the fact that Dada's a colossal figure in Kolkata & India.
The BCCI may not agree but every cricket follower knows that Team India owes their new found status to Dada, built the team from a scratch after the the match fixing episode.
Not just a batsman or a bowler, Dada's also a team builder & it would've helped since KKR's having a brand new team.
Under Buchanan, Dada would've never got the opportunity to build a team as he's got a history with Australians.
Barring Gambhir (a greenhorn at team building) no one in the team has the necessary experience of a team leader especially when you have players from very diverse backgrounds.
So here you have, a tried & tested team builder, who commands a great fan following & eyeballs as well.
If Shahrukh's an astute businessman then it would've made practical sense to have Dada in the team as he's the one who would've guaranteed a fan following & ticket entries. Remember, Eden Garden is the largest cricket stadium in India.
Dada would've also been a marketeer's delight as his presence would've guaranteed merchandise sales.
Business models like the EPL / IPL thrive on fan registration. Can only imagine how many Bengalis will follow the KKR now that Dada's out.
Not just the KKR fan following but even his movies run the risk of thin attendance in West Bengal, now that RA ONE's ready for release.
As far as Dada's concerned, he can sit pretty. While all parleys will happen behind the scenes, he'll be in an envious position to pick and choose.
Would like to quote a Sidhuism to sign off (originally meant for KXIP) - KKR too is like a tea bag, they always find themselves in hot waters.
Before I write this, I want to make it clear that I am huge Dada fan and I mean no disrespect to him when I put down my two pence.
ReplyDeleteDada, by no stretch of imagination, is good enough for T20. He was good at ODIs and great at being a captain. Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Rahul Dravid(in a wicket keeping role due to which his career was prolonged), Harbhajan Singh and even Dhoni all came into the Indian team when Saurav was captain and I think that is a tribute to his team building skills and foresight. This can be said of no other Indian captain. He had an eye for talent!
Now, that said, his time is up! I felt bad when he was not picked when the likes of Laxman and Rahul Dravid were but that is a different story! Saurav was the Geoffery Bocott of the T20. He is notoriously fat headed and will not listen to anyone. Any guess, why he hit it off with John Wright and not with any hard speaking Aussie?? He is just way too "high maintenance".
SRK messed up the whole auction deal. He should have taken a leaf out of Vijay Mallya's book. Vijay got into a good arrangement with Anil Kumble before the auction and that was blodd less. In the end, I feel, Dada has just made it a habit to look like a victim! His management team has become bloody good at it and he ensures the whole of Kolkata react like he wants them to.