Tags: New Delhi , Cricket , IPL , Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Ishant Sharma today refused to blame captain Brendon McCullum or coach John Buchanan for their IPL debacle and said the fact was that the team failed to deliver as a unit.

Knight Riders suffered the humiliation of losing eight matches in a row under the leadership of McCullum, who succeeded Sourav Ganguly, and celebrated former Australia coach Buchanan but Ishant said it would have met the same fate under anyone.

"Whoever would have been our captain and coach but the fact was that we failed to deliver as a team during the tournament. The captain is as good as his team," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Asked to compare Ganguly and McCullum, the 20-year-old said "They are different types of captain and both have different ways of handling the pressure".

On the personal front, Ishant admitted IPL-II was the most difficult phase of his career.

"I have never seen my side losing so many matches at a stretch like what happened in the IPL in South Africa. It was certainly the toughest phase of my cricket career so far.

"Since the day I started playing cricket, I have never seen my side losing so many close matches for such a long period. But I think, it was a learning experience for the whole team as well," the lanky bowler said.

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