Dav Whatmore resigns as Kolkata Knight Riders' coach to pursue international coaching

Dav Whatmore, Former Aussie cricketer, has resigned as Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) coach after a stint of two years. According to reports, the Australian born decided to take this action in order to pursue his international coaching career. Venky Mysore, CEO KKR, confirmed that Whatmore will no longer be part of the Indian Premier League franchise. The CEO thanked Whatmore for playing his part in the development of KKR squad. Mysore said, “We fully support Dav's keen interest in pursuing an international coaching role and we wish him the very best. His decision to resign is to ensure that KKR is able to plan for the transition and we thank him for that.”

Pakistan’s national team has been without a permanent coach ever since Waqar Younis stepped down. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has searched left and right for a suitable coach and it seems their search will end up with Whatmore taking charge of things. The PCB has not yet confirmed his appointment, and has decided to keep away from his resignation issue. A commendable source within the PCB has said, “That is his personal decision but as far as the PCB is concerned we are yet to enter into any agreement with him.” The source further divulged that the PCB has shortlisted several candidates for the coaching job, however the experienced Aussie is their first priority. The indigenous source said, “It is confirmed he is the number one choice for the head coach position by the board.” This is not the first time that Whatmore has been linked with a move to Pakistan. The 57-year-old was amongst the top contenders for the post, in 2007, but there was a contingent within the Green Shirts, who opposed his hiring sensing that his style of coaching will have repercussions, as a result fellow Australian Geoff Lawson was given the responsibility of training Pakistan. Whatmore is facing similar opposition this time as well. A report published by Pa akistani newspaper “Jang” reads, “Some of the seniors are reportedly not happy because of Whatmore's reputation as a hard task master and his having attitude problems.”

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KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS SIGNED ON MARK BOUCHER AS BRAD HADDIN’S REPLACEMENT

The Kolkata Knight Riders have signed up the South Africa wicketkeeper batsman, Mark Boucher as a replacement for the injured Brad Haddin.

The Chief executive officer and the managing director of the Knight Riders, Mr. Venky Mysore was upbeat to have someone of Boucher’s status in the team as a replacement of the departing Australian.

"We are fortunate to have someone like Mark Boucher as Brad's replacement. Mark comes with a lot of experience and a terrific track record in all forms of the game," said Venky Mysore while talking to the media on Saturday.

Boucher’s signing came after an MRI of Brad Haddin’s injured finger on Thursday detected a fracture and the Aussie cricketer was suggested to drop out of the upcoming games in order to avoid further aggravation of the injury.

Haddin picked up the finger injury during Australia’s tour of Bangladesh earlier this month, playing a three-match One-Day series.

The New South Wales keeper had earlier missed Kolkata’s three opening games due to his national commitments.

Though he joined King Khan’s KKR soon after Australia’s tour of Bangladesh, he could only managed a single appearance for the franchise, failing to make an impact with the gloves or the bat.

The Knight Rider’s CEO said that they are quite disappointed with Haddin’s early exit due to the fractured finger and stated that the 33-year old wicketkeeper had made his presence felt in a very short period of time and he will be missed by both the team and the management.

"We are very disappointed that Brad (Haddin) will be leaving the squad and will not take further part in IPL 4. In a short period, Brad had made his presence felt both on and off the field."

Boucher, the 34-year old former Proteas wicketkeeper, played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first three editions of the lucrative Twenty20 league.

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Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Manoj Tiwary praises Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy

Kolkata Knight Riders batsman, Manoj Tiwary has hailed Gautam Gambhir for his captaincy tactics and said that latter’s ability to allow personal space to each member of the team makes him stand out of the pack.

"Gautam is an innovative captain. He comes up with lot of ideas and makes it a point to discuss it with the players. He tries to understand each and every player's game and gives them a lot of space," said Manoj while talking to the media reporters.

When asked whether he had also benefited from the experience and exposure of the sensational top order batsman, Tiwary said that Gambhir is a very good batsman of spin bowling and playing with the top order batsman helped him a lot.

The 25-year-old Bengal batsman told the reporters that Gambhir has given him useful tip about how his footwork should be against the spin bowlers.

Talking about King Khan, the principal owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, Tiwary said that bollywood star gifted each and every KKR player a locket he brought from Ajmer Sharif. The Bengal captain said that this gesture of the bollywood celebrity touched their hearts. He also said that it would be a "treasured possession" for him as it was presented by a living legend .

The right handed batsman made his solitary One Day International appearance in February 2008 against Australia in Brisbane and has not been picked in a national side since then. Manoj said that he wants to make a comeback to the national side and is working hard for that as well. However, he said that currently he is focusing on the ongoing Indian Premier League and wants to win matches for Knight Riders.

"My first focus is to win matches for KKR. I don't want to think too far ahead," said Manoj. "My job is to perform and that's precisely what I am trying to do. I felt bad that twice (against Chennai and Kochi) I couldn't finish off matches. But I have learnt from my mistakes and would like to rectify that in coming matches."

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SHAHRUKH AND JUHI PLANNING TO CONSTRUCT NEW STADIUM IN GUJARAT

Bollywood close friends and co-actors, Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, are planning to construct a cricket stadium at Porbandar, Gujarat.

King Khan and gorgeous film actress, Juhi Chawla, have been jointly working on various projects. Their first venture Dream Unlimited, along with their third partner and director Aziz Mirza, is the production house, which has produced the patriotic film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, starring Juhi and Shahrukh himself.

When their production house could not create magic, they opted for another mega project by owning a franchise in Indian Premier League (IPL). They own the successful IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

After the IPL team KKR’s ownership, now the idea of constructing the cricket stadium shows the love and passion of both film stars for cricket.

After that, both the partners decided to go ahead with the project. They have decided to name the stadium as the Nanji Kalidas Stadium.

Shahrukh Khan has signed a deal with the local construction company along with the Mehtas. Firstly, batting pitches will be prepared and then stands and players’ dressing rooms will be built. Shahrukh Khan has hired expertise from United Kingdom to design and construct the outfield and public stands.

Although there were tiffs between the two Indian film actors and they have not worked together in films since a very long time. However they decided to bond again, as they are very successful when comes to business.

Kolkata Knight Riders commonly known as KKR is one of the ten teams of Indian Premier League. The celebrity owners bought this team for USD75.09 million, in 2008.

KKR’s official theme is in Bengali language and it goes like ‘Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re' which means ‘for We will do it, Fight for it, Win it.’

Besides their defeats in the previous seasons of IPL, it is still rate as one of the most popular teams in IPL. One of the main reasons of its popularity is the people who own it. People around the globe are crazy for their beloved King Khan.

KKR has performed in all the previous three seasons. In their current fourth season, KKR lost the opening match against the Chennai Super Kings. However, they are looking forward to perform well in the future matches of the league.

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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) put on a lacklustre display against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first innings of an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter. The match, being played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 20 April, 2011, saw the Tuskers restricted to a meager 132 runs by the brilliant bowling of Yusuf Pathan.

KKR, after winning the toss, decided to put KTK into bat. Brendon McCullum and skipper Mahela Jayawardene opened the innings for the KTK and provided a blistering start of 49 runs with an average of seven runs per over. Both played exceptionally well and smashed the KKR bowlers all around the park.

The opening partnership was broken when McCullum was caught by Eoin Morgan off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan. The Kiwi made 23 runs facing just 19 balls and smashed two fours and a six.

PA Patel came into bat as a one-down batsman. After the addition of just two runs to the total, Jayawardene was sent back to the pavilion. He was caught plumb in front of the wickets and was declared LBW after being bowled by Yusuf Pathan. He scored 25 runs from 27 balls and smashed five boundaries.

Once the captain’s wicket fell, right handed batsman, Brad Hodge, came into the middle to bat. The Aussie could not impress with the bat and after scoring just two runs off eight balls, he was clean bowled by Yusuf Pathan. RA Jadeja was the next man in and tried to establish the KTK’s innings but his senior partner on the crease could not support him for long and became the next victim of Yusuf Pathan’s off-spin. He was also judged LBW after scoring just nine runs from 11 balls.

KTK lost their four top order batsmen for just 65 runs and came under an immense pressure. However, Jadeja stood tall in front of the KKR’s bowlers to stablise KTK’s innings but none of the remaining middle order and lower middle order batsmen support him and the Tuskers kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.

Jadeja was out in the 16^th over after playing a handy knock of 29 runs off just 18 balls and claiming three huge sixes. After the wicket of Jadeja none of the KTK’s batsmen could even cross the 15 run mark. KM Jadhav scored 12 runs and was clean bowled by Al Hasan. Similarly R Vinay Kumar was sent back to the pavilion by Al Hasan after scoring 11 runs.

At the end of 20 overs, KTK managed to score 132 runs for the loss of seven wickets and asked KKR to chase the target with an average of 6.60 runs per over.

Yusuf Pathan was the pick of the bowlers for KKR and picked up three wickets for 20 runs and one maiden. Similarly Shakib Al Hasan also took three wickets and gave away 28 runs. 

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Gautam Gambhir expects Yusuf Pathan to shine against Rajasthan

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has said that he expects hard-hitting batsman Yusuf Pathan to shine against Rajasthan Royals in their third Indian Premier League fixture on Friday.
Pathan, the former Rajasthan Royals player, was part of India’s ICC World Cup 2011 winning squad. Kolkata Knight Riders signed the swashbuckling player for $2.1 million for the 2011 season of IPL.
“We would be benefited as Yusuf Pathan has played few matches and also against the Rajasthan Royals team earlier. Our team would be benefited if Yusuf plays well tomorrow,” said Gambhir.
In the opening season of IPL in 2008, Pathan came into the limelight when he scored 435 runs including 4 fifties and had an unbelievable strike rate of 179. In addition, he took 8 wickets with his off spinners. In the 2010 season of IPL, Pathan hit a 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians that included 8 sixes and 9 fours.
Pathan has played 43 IPL matches so far, scoring 1,011 runs at an average of 26.61 including 6 fifties and 1 century. While bowling, he has taken 20 wickets with best bowling figures of 3/22. He made his Twenty20 international debut against Pakistan in the final of the 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup.
In the ongoing season of the IPL, KKR lost their first match to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, while they beat Deccan Chargers in their second match.
Besides Pathan, KKR also have many other useful players in their team including Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan and Ryan Ten Doeschate.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals are led by former Australian spinner Shane Warne. Under his captaincy, the team has won both of its first two matches against Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils. The team has also drafted useful players from all over the world including Ross Taylor, Shaun Tait, Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha.
Let’s see whether Yusuf Pathan lives up to his captain’s expectations in their clash against the Royals or not.

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