TOUTED AS a do-or-die game for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team, the locals knew before the game got underway that they would be in for a rude shock. The Bollywood franchisee Shahrukh Khan preferred to remain away, the stands wore a deserted look and the body language of the KKR players said it all.

They knew, like the spectators, that they were licked before the first ball was bowled. The jazzy dresses, the theme song, the special outlets for selling KKR mementos have all come to a naught. Some of the TV channels, normally bubbling with excitement at the prospects of a nail biting finish and redeeming of the lost image of the home team, had relegated the game to the back-burners.

The Rajasthan Royals won the toss and sent in the KKR to bat – Shane Warne probably took the decision after seeing the dark clouds overhead. He wanted to play it safe, should the Duckworth-Lewis system (D/L system) be called up once again. However, the Kolkata players were extra cautious and, in the bargain, could not post even 150 runs. Whatever 147 runs they eventually put up, with the contributions by a couple of unknown youngsters, were certainly insufficient.

The Rajasthan team romped home in the 17th over with Yusuf Pathan and Mohammed Kaif putting on 81 valuable runs in record time. The doors to enter the last four is now more or less closed and a distant dream for the KKR. They cannot hope to fight it out now for a semi-final berth.

Rumours are floating around about the differences of opinion between SRK and Sourav Ganguly. It seems that the problems began right from the time of purchasing (not selecting) the players in the auction. The recommendations of Ganguly were not accepted by SRK while the players who SRK bought were not the ones Ganguly wanted.

Moreover, KKR was the only team that had to pay entertainment tax to the West Bengal government – none of the others had to shell out this extra expense. SRK had requested Ganguly to ask the Chief Minister to reconsider this decision but he did not oblige even though his relationship with the CM is quite amicable.

The last straw was probably the match with the Chennai team – SRK had suggested that the KKR should field first, but Ganguly went ahead and batted. This led to frayed tempers in the dressing room. After the loss, there were heated exchanges between the two. At the end, it turned out to be a fight over two independent power centres.

SRK being the celebrity that he is, will not let this loss affect his thinking. He is a more experienced man now and the next round of the IPL might see him handle the issues differently and with more maturity. His problems are similar to the ones faced by Vijay Mallya – his Bangalore team did not live up to his expectations and he will also pursue other options in the second round