TRUST John Buchanan to do the unexpected. In 1998, he was accused of complicating things to such an extent for Middlesex that the team ended up at the bottom of the table in the English county championships.

In 2001, before he could experience his first Ashes victory as coach of Australia, he used Sun Tzu's ancient Chinese military treatise The Art of War to inspire his team.

Twice, his strategy sheet pushed under the doors of his players' hotel rooms landed at the feet of an agency journalist who promptly filed his 'how to dismiss whom' scoop to the world.

As coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, he announced yesterday that there would be four captains to lead the team in the second edition of the IPL.

Ploy
The cynics say that this was one way to get rid of Sourav Ganguly as regular captain although he will get his chance to lead at some time in the tournament with him being one of the four captains appointed. Whatever the case, it has put Ganguly in the news again.

For the alarmists, Buchanan is now viewed as another Greg Chappell, whose differences with the former India captain spiced up the history of Indian cricket.

Ganguly not being made captain for the full season shouldn't come as a bolt from the blue. Not long after the sheen of performance disappeared from Shah Rukh Khan's knights in Season One, there were whispers in the cricketing and Bollywood circles of Ganguly not occupying the throne in the next edition.

More critics
It will be hard to imagine Buchanan's list of admirers growing. Shane Warne never hesitated to under-rate his value to the Australian team. Ian Chappell, Warne's confidant said in 2007 that even his daughter Amanda could have done a better job as coach.

And former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi couldn't believe his eyes and ears sitting in his living room when the television host revealed that KKR would have four captains.

"Buchanan has gone bonkers," Bedi told MiD DAY. One expected the Sardar of Spin to support Ganguly's ouster but he slammed Buchanan. "I have a lot of time for Buchanan but he has gone overboard with this decision. It's unbelievable that a team can have four captains," Bedi said.

"If they wanted to sack him as captain, then it should have been done straight off. I don't think Ganguly is autocratic. He wouldn't have thrown a tantrum; would have accepted it as part of the game. But this is crazy.
u00a0
Ganguly is upset, but he is not expressing it although his body language shows that he is not happy."

Icons ridiculed
In the ruthless world of the IPL, some of India's biggest cricketing names have taken a beating. Rahul Dravid was criticised by Bangalore Royal Challengers' owner Vijay Mallya when the defeats column got heavier. VVS Laxman's leadership at Deccan Chargers was slammed by teammate Shahid Afridi and now it's Ganguly's turn to face ridicule. These three greats will not be the most important members of their teams for the South Africa-bound tournament. INDIAN sure appears a misnomer in this Premier League.