Buchanan backs under-fire skipper McCullum

Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan has come to the defence of Brendon McCullum, saying the captain should not be blamed for the team's terrible run in the IPL. McCullum has struggled with the bat, scoring just 65 runs at 10.62, and in the role of leader and has said he would quit if Kolkata did not make the semi-finals.

"I think one must feel that Brendon came into the tournament as captain under fire from everyone because we made some changes. So one should not blame only the captain," Buchanan told Indian news channel NDTV. "I think cricket is a team game and each one of us is responsible for our performance. Traditional sense says that the captain is responsible but, in fact, everyone is."

McCullum was appointed captain before the season began, replacing icon player Sourav Ganguly. The appointment followed a great deal of controversy following Buchanan's theory of multiple captains, which has not yet been effected this season.

Buchanan himself is under pressure with Kolkata mired in eighth place and reports of team disharmony surfacing on an almost daily basis in the Indian press. On the IPL website he said he was uncertain if the team could bounce back this season.

"It has been pretty hard for all of us. I know that we are going to get out of this. I am not sure whether it will be this time or next year. I do know that we are going to come out of this," said Buchanan. "All we can do is try and play well. But in terms of the things, we need to improve; we will focus on one or two things rather than a range of issues. That will take time."

Buchanan said there was still plenty the team needed to talk about and that they really needed to do away with the negatives that had seeped in. "We need to do consistently well as a team. We didn't have wins and we need to win few matches," he said. "As Brendon had pointed out some of our batsmen have been doing well. Morne van Wyk has been very good. And we saw Moises Henriques coming good. Those are good signs and we also have David Hussey joining us soon."