Multiple-captain idea is burning issue at IPL

NEW DELHI (AFP) — When veteran Australian coach John Buchanan recently floated the idea of having multiple captains in Twenty20, it became a burning issue, literally.

His effigies were burnt in Kolkata by fans of former India captain Sourav Ganguly who believed the concept was meant to dilute the powers of their popular 'Prince of Kolkata'.

The 56-year-old Buchanan, who had a successful eight-year stint as Australia's coach, said the new concept would be an advantage in the fast-moving shortest version of the game.

"There will always be a nominated captain, who goes for the toss. He could look after the bowling, make the changes, take care of the strategy aspect," he told the Kolkata-based Telegraph newspaper.

"We could also have a fielding captain, who sets the field keeping in mind the planning done for that particular match. The fielding captain complements the nominated/bowling captain.

"Both will be supported by the coach, who'll be the captain off the field. When the team is batting, the coach will be the captain."

Buchanan, cricket manager of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, sparked a worldwide debate with his concept and led to the pro-Ganguly protests.

The controversy did not die down and it eventually required Knight Riders owner, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, to broker a truce.

"I am not doing it for the sake of grabbing headlines," said Buchanan. "I am doing it for reasons that'll benefit the game.

"Having one captain to run the show in the traditional form is okay. In Twenty20, though, I don't believe we need a single captain to be responsible for all the decisions."

Ganguly said they would "wait and see" how the idea works when the IPL opens on Saturday.

"It's completely new. It has never happened in sports," he said. "There are no gaurantees."

Teams like Australia and India have had different Test and one-day captains, but not more than one skipper in a match in any form of the game.

South African coach Mickey Arthur promptly shot down the idea.

"It has to be one leader always," he said. "I favour the one-captain situation because everybody in the team is clear about who is in charge at all times.

"If you have more than one guy as leader, you don't know whom to turn to. I really don't know what he (Buchanan) is aiming at."

Australian captain Ricky Ponting saw no problems with the concept.

"I know Tassie (Tasmania) actually experimented with that a few years ago. One was doing the field placings and one was doing the bowling changes," said Ponting.

"So it just sort of lightened the load up on the actual captain and gave him a bit more opportunity to think about different things. I don't see there's a lot of problems with it."

Sri Lanka's new captain Kumar Sangakkara felt the idea should be given a fair trial.

"If it's a way to go forward and it shows results, why not?" he asked.

"Hopefully, it's not a marketing gimmick. Something to create more interest towards that one franchise and to get the public to say 'Well, we'll follow the Knight Riders from here on."