Former national cricketers reacted sharply after Sourav Ganguly was dropped as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders team in the ongoing IPL tournament on Saturday.
"This news was, to some extent, expected. But it won't do any good to the team. This is not football and does not augur well for the game," former Test cricketer Ashoke Malhotra said.
Describing it as an 'unfortunate decision', former Test opener and wicket keeper Deep Dasgupta called it a 'whimsical decision' of the owner of the team.
"It looks like a decision taken in a typical private company where everything depends on the whims of the bosses. If he likes you, then you are welcome, otherwise you are out. Same thing happened to Dada (Ganguly)," he rued.
Gopal Bose, another veteran opener, also had feared that something like this was going to happen.
"I am very sad to hear this news. Sourav thinks more for other members of his team than himself and that is the reason for not being liked by the coach. Last year, he included Pakistani speedstar Shoaib Akhtar, which Buchanan did not like. Since then, the relationship between Maharaj (Ganguly) and Buchanan started turning sour," he said.
Former national selector and Bengal captain Sambaran Banerjee also felt that the decision of not retaining Ganguly as the skipper of KKR is 'unfortunate'.
"He is most capable to lead the side. It is totally unjust to announce that there would be a new captain this time, just a couple of days before the start of the tournament," he added.
While the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Jagmohan Dalmiya refused to comment "as the decision is taken by a private club and does not concern CAB or Bengal team".
Two CAB joint secretaries Biswaroop Dey and Arun Mitra also termed the decision 'unfortunate'.
Former cricketers react sharply on KKR captaincy
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