Shah Rukh, whose company Red Chillies Entertainment won the bid for the Kolkata team at the Indian Premier League auction, claimed that the players were not being 'fired', but only asked to leave the camp for now.

He said the decision was taken as coach John Buchanan felt it would be unwise to continue with the huge 23-member contingent mid-way into the tournament.

"Look, there should be no controversy on this issue. John (Buchanan) thought it unwise to carry on with the huge 23-member team at this stage. So, we decided to ask the five players to leave the camp for the time being," Khan said after arriving in Kolkata for the match against the Delhi Daredevils.

Shah Rukh said the decision needed to be looked at positively. "Basically, the coach and all of us thought that with the IPL reaching the closing phase, it's wrong to go into four-hour practice sessions with 23 players. Instead, we want to focus on giving more practice to the core team. And, these five players are not getting fired. Their contracts stay, our commitments towards them stay. This is a technical, purely cricketing decision," he insisted.