NEW DELHI: In an apparent bid to cut cost, the Kolkata Knight Riders team management “politely” asked five of the players, who are yet to feature in the side’s 14-member squad in any match, to leave the team hotel. The players are Ranadeb Bose, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sourasish Lahiri, Yashpal Singh and Hokkaido. One of the players said they were “politely given the option of either staying at the team hotel or going home”. ( Watch )
“It was clear what the team management wants. Apparently coach John Buchanan feels that he has found his set combination and had no need for the fringe players,” one of the players said.
Ranadeb Bose, one of the players spoke to Times Now and said, “I did not expect this was coming. I was surprised when John said that we have to win more games and we have to concentrate on the first 11 or first 14. This is unfair on our part that we will not practice or play any game. So, it is better we go back and relax rather than staying with the side.”
However, team owner Shah Rukh Khan justified this eviction and said that no player has been dumped and all of them continue to play for Kolkata Knight Riders. He said, “John has been feeling that there is not much time for all the twenty-three players to practice. We have to concentrate on the core team because ours is more spread out. Which is why we have constricted the team to lesser amount of people so that they can concentrate on practicising effectively with whatever little time they have in their hands. This is purely a technical decision by John Buchanan.”
Justifying further SRK said, “All the five players are a part of our team and they remain contracted to the Kolkata Knight Riders. They will be with us and we have given them the same explanation of having less time for practice. The franchise is for life and all of them will get a chance to play for the team. There is nothing controversial about the same out here. This is just a technical move so that we can focus more on the upcoming matches and win them.”
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