The number of words were few, but the impact devastating. Buchanan, the franchise's head of cricket operations, looked ill at ease and McCullum couldn't exactly have been breathing easy either.

Barely had that answer been digested that Sourav was asked another one. Was he comfortable at No 4 or would he prefer No 3? "I'm comfortable anywhere," he said, rather blandly.

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Read between the lines and his preference becomes clear.

Despite Sourav being the showstealer, successor McCullum invited praise for being candid.

"My form has been disappointing... It's been putting us on the backfoot... Hopefully, we'll get dynamic at the top (before Chris Gayle departs, as of now, on Friday)... I'm leading a fantastic team, but the results haven't been there... However, we still believe we can win this IPL," he maintained.

McCullum reiterated that he would quit if the Knights didn't make the semi-finals. "If I can't inspire my team, take them to the semis, then I'm perhaps not quite the man to captain... Right now, though, I'm focused on us trying to get some momentum in the tournament..."

Buchanan felt the players weren't relaxed enough as they were trying "too hard" and being tight had affected their game. Principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, incidentally, made the same observation a day earlier.