John Buchanan

Calcutta/Mumbai: The Kolkata Knight Riders’ preparations for the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) began on Tuesday, with coach John Buchanan doing some talent-spotting in Mumbai.

“The exercise in Mumbai will last two days and John will then leave for New Delhi, where something similar is planned. Calcutta is going to be the coach’s last stop,” an official of the Knight Riders told The Telegraph.

While Goregaon Sports Club is the venue in Mumbai, Vijay Dahiya’s Academy will be the centre of action in New Delhi on August 30-31. The indoor facility of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is likely to be used here as because of the monsoons nothing can be done outdoors.

As of now, Buchanan will be in Calcutta from September 1-5. His programme hasn’t been finalised, but the CAB (now headed by Jagmohan Dalmiya) could be requested for “access” to the state’s probables for the 2008-09 season.

Depending on just how satisfied Buchanan is with the talent-spotting, three-four players could be added to the Knight Riders’ squad for the forthcoming tour of Queensland, the coach’s home state.

Around 16 of the younger players will eventually make the two-week trip. The Laxmi Ratan Shuklas should leave by September 21.

Praising the performance of Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis against the star-studded Indian batting line-up in the just concluded three-Test series, Buchanan said the youngster should be judged on a long-term basis.

“Mendis reminds me a bit of Johnny Gleeson, though he releases the ball much quicker, is taller and stronger. He also has good change of pace,” he said.

The former Australian coach said he can’t say for sure why Mendis succeeded against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman, who were not unduly bothered by a genius like Shane Warne in his prime.

“I don’t know the reason (why they failed against Mendis)... As far as Warne was concerned, over a period of time people read him more. But Warne’s ability stood the test of time like any great batsman or bowler. It’s a testing time for him (Mendis). His action has not been studied in detail… he has not been exposed enough.”

Buchanan did not want to dwell much on the ball tampering controversy following Marcus Trescothick’s recent admission that his team tampered with the ball during their 2005 Ashes win.

“I will leave others to chew over it,” he said.

On IPL, Buchanan, reiterated that the format has given cricket a whole new dimension. He said if the IPL could follow the Australian Rules Football’s draft system in future then the league can become more competitive. “Under the Australian Rules Football system the bottom placed teams have the first pick on new players. This has made it more competitive.”