'It didn’t seem like a big decision' - KKR CEO on not retaining Sourav Ganguly in 2011

Sourav Ganguly is one of the highest-rated captains of Indian cricket. He had a lot of accomplishments comprising winning NatWest trophy, Champions Trophy 2002, being runner-up of the World Cup 2003, and providing a number of incredible match winners to the team. But the Prince of Bengal’s career didn’t shape up in the Indian Premier League the way he would have wished for.

He was chosen as the Icon player by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008, the inaugural season. The team ended up in 6th position even after having a lot of superstars of the game. The next season he was removed from the captaincy only to reclaim it in 2010. But the team again finished at number 6 and ultimately he was not retained before the mega auction in 2011.

Kolkata went for Gautam Gambhir, a new and aggressive leader. He eventually won them the trophy twice in the next four years. Removing Dada from his home team saw a tremendous backlash from the local public. They were not able to imagine Kolkata’s team playing at the Eden Gardens without their beloved local hero but it happened and KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore shared how the events turned out.

As per him, the decision of not retaining Ganguly was more emotional for the owners. He joined the organization in 2010, so for him, letting Ganguly go was not at all personal.

“I’ll break that down into two parts. Personally, for me, it didn’t seem like a big decision (not retaining Sourav Ganguly), only because I was unattached. If I had been part of the organization for three years, or two years or one year, it would have been a tougher decision,” Mysore said in the latest episode of ‘The RK show’ uploaded on YouTube.

Shah Rukh, Jay, Juhi have stood behind the decisions I have proposed: KKR CEO

He also said that, though he made the decision, the owners always supported what his call was and there was no micromanagement in KKR.

“This was like someone completely coming in from the outside, which I was, literally from the outside. Eventually, I realized, that for the organization and for the owners, it was tough. It’s a decision and an approach that I proposed as I was given the mandate. I look back at it, and I basically said this, that ‘I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not, and we may fall flat on our face. But, it’s a different approach. Are we all on board with this?’ If I have to attribute whatever success we have had to one thing, it is the fact that the owners – Shah Rukh, Jay, Juhi – have stood behind the decisions I have proposed,” he added.

KKR is now led by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik and the team has already reached UAE for the upcoming season. The two times champion KKR won their last trophy in 2014 and will be looking to end their 5 seasons’ drought.