The irrepressible, uncontrolled passion an enthusiastic Virat Kohli brought to his captaincy back in 2014 somehow brought a whiff of fresh air in Indian cricket. He has restrained his passion on his sleeve which looks like a badge of honour. His furious gestures, sometimes animated expressions were simply opposite to the dead silent, unfathomable mood of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s celebrated Captain Cool.
Kohli came up with excessive aggression to the position and this stood out firmly when, in Dhoni’s absence, he captained India for the first time in a Test at Adelaide back in December 2014.
Kohli hit a stunning 115 in the first innings, and after Australia set a target of 364 on the final day, Kohli’s vicious approach and desperation to take the challenge was certainly different from the defensive approach Indian captains of the past have followed.
He actually led from the front with another masterclass, 141 off 175 balls, and India showed their attacking mood before being bowled out for 315.
Though India lost the Test, Kohli had managed to deliver a loud and clear message: If you give him only half a chance, his team would go for the kill. That time everybody was rejoicing – this young warrior will definitely lead Indian cricket through some thrilling times, especially as his batting was regaining the greatness from strength to strength with the help of some truly outstanding performances.
But sadly, travelling through the passage of time and matches, it seems that Kohli is to some extent moving towards the same bracket just like past cricketing greats Ian Botham, Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar. They all were greats, the very best you would find in the business, yet the intricacies of captaincy looked pale on them.
Obviously, these are very early days for captain Kohli and he is still learning. But the way his team Royal Challengers Bangalore have repeatedly succumbed to defeats not being able to protect huge targets in this IPL is quite a concern and agonising also.
Undoubtedly the most preferred option is to dump all the failures of RCB at the doorstep of the bowling department. But is it the right choice? Captain and his think tank have to ask themselves, have they really done all that possible to extract the best out of the low-in-confidence bowlers? Has the pacers and spinners been optimally utilised, and is it working – individual deployment at an ideal time?
Simple to say, resources will always remain limited. It is a captain’s credibility to put them to optimal use which can make the ultimate difference between success and failure.
It’s for sure, any captain will see his plans ripped apart by the opposite side’s brilliant batting. But if this massacre happens regularly, it’s quite hard to digest. Especially in the case of RCB who, man to man, certainly look better on paper than Sunrisers Hyderabad or Delhi Daredevils.
Famous England captain Mike Brearley once said, it’s crucial for a captain to figure out the exact nature of the individual within his team. Cricket, for him, is a sport of individual performances; so to snatch the best results for the team, each person has to be given the confidence that the whole team trusts on his ability to perform. This kind of confidence requires to be nurtured cautiously and coaxed out of an individual, just like Shane Warne once did with Rajasthan Royals; now Delhi Daredevils have also shown how true is this ideology.
For a start, Virat Kohli could have been a lot more proactive rather than just giving the ball to a bowler and retreating to field at deep midwicket or long-on. He has to understand, it cannot be very reassuring for a bowler if his skipper believes most of the deliveries will be dispatched to deep midwicket.
You cannot deny, Kohli has emerged as one of the most outstanding cricketers of this era. He has taken the art of batting to some extraordinary levels and many even consider he is the number one batsman in the world today. But the question that needs to be answered, is he as innovative and proactive with his captaincy too?
Kohli had managed the RCB captaincy in Daniel Vettori’s absence in 2011 and 2012 edition and was appointed full-time skipper back in 2013. Thus, to be fair he has had a fair stint at the top job. But there are still some grey areas which escape comprehension.
For example, you can talk about the decision to bat first against Gujarat Lions. It was not just contrary to RCB’s native strength, it also gave an easy win for the Lions, who actually romped home with plenty to spare.
Royal Challengers have lost four matches while batting first in this year’s IPL, and on all four occasions, posted some big first innings totals — 191, 185, 180, 170. Despite keeping in mind the limitations of the bowling department, failure to defend such huge totals is irritating.
However, Virat Kohli can still redeem himself and RCB. But to make that happening, he has to think on his feet and be a lot more sensitive to the abilities of his bowlers. For your kind information, RCB did defend a target quite successfully twice this season. That means there are some reasons to cheer there.
Right at this moment, Kohli’s captaincy is progressing along the lines of Tendulkar, Richards and Botham. These cricketing greats to set such high standards for themselves that they somehow failed to appreciate the limitations of lesser players. They could come up with their individual wonders, but were relatively perplexed when others in the team didn’t do so.
Virat Kohli has to look for a different course to prove that he is the right man to guide Indian cricket. Limited bowling option is something which not only his IPL team but also the national team suffers from. So the captain’s golden arm is dearly required to boost the below per bowlers’ self-esteem. The question remains the same – can Kohli rise up to the challenge?