Shah Rukh Khan hits back at Gavaskar

Shah Rukh Khan Hits Back At Gavaskar
April 06 2009
Khan - responded to Sunny's jibes.
Khan - responded to Sunny's jibes.

The controversy over John Buchanan's 'multiple coaches' strategy has continued with Kolkata owner Shah Rukh Khan and Sunil Gavaskar entering a war of words.

The clash began when Gavaskar labelled Buchanan a "failed former cricketer making a living telling international players to do what he couldn't do" in his column for the Hindustan Times, and effectively said that the Australian was taking the Bollywood star for a ride.

"To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn't deserve but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR," wrote Gavaskar.

"They have a very big support staff which includes his son and most of them are from Queensland. The owners - poor souls - have little idea that they are being milked."

But Khan has responded by insisting that Gavaskar is simply not up to date with the times.

"I respect Mr Gavaskar - his knowledge about cricket is a billion times better than me," the Knight Riders owner told reporters in Mumbai.

"But this is an era where Mr Gavaskar has not indulged in; nevertheless his knowledge about the game does allow him to make comments.

"This is a new format that's being tried out. Please give it some breathing space. I am the owner of the team, I bought it. If he wants to implement something, let him buy a team."

The franchise attempted to put the debate to bed last week when they released a statement clarifying that there would be many "strategists" but only one captain.

However that didn't stop Gavaskar launching his attack on Buchanan over the weekend, when he also criticised the coach's propensity for issuing comments to the media.

[Credit : http://www.cricket365.com/story/0,18305,6575_5153136,00.html]