Captaining in Cricket is not for the faint hearted. When two great Captains are face to face on the field, it’s a duel to death. Two great gladiators raring to have a go at each other and eager to have the last laugh. Captaining a Cricket team is very unique compared to other sports.
Here are a few aspects which all Great Cricket Captains have had.
Captain Calm
One has to agree that sometimes things do get out of hand in the middle .If it is in the heat of the moment and words that are being exchanged are instantaneous rather than being choreographed in the locker rooms ,then It does give that extra adrenaline rush even to the loyal fans. But it is at these moments that sanity has to prevail and the skippers have to indulge to restore order. It’s not as if the Captain doesn’t have anything to say but he has to tone down his players to foresee the larger interest of the game.
“Get Ready For A Broken Fucking Arm”
This was what Australian Skipper had to say to James Anderson during a test match. It was said in the heat of the moment and also baring in mind the special Johnson-Anderson Love Affair.
It never looks good when a Captain does this and especially with so many microphones around these verbal duels do get caught. Michael Clarke did apologize for this incident later on and it was good to see the he acknowledged the fact that he is a mascot of the game and role model to the kids and such behavior was very immature of him .It is in this capacity that a calm M S Dhoni will always rate higher than Clarke .
Leader of the Wolf Pack
Cricket is not just a physical game. Its a game of wits and outwitting the opposition. Half of the battle is in the brain.
The greatest captains in Cricket have always been the one who have never given in. Their mental resolve and ability to motivate the guys around is the litmus test of their character.
1992 – Imran Khan’s last chance at glory. Pakistan has always had sparks of brilliance but were never efficient as a unit.Imran brought the belief in these guys that they could be World Champions. The phrase “Cornered Tiger” is so etched in memory in connection with 1992 World Cup. Pakistan has ever since struggled to produce such a charismatic leader and hence have been very erratic at international level.
Steve Waugh was a master at putting a prize to his wicket. Be it the dusty spinning tracks of the sub-continent or the fast and bouncy pitches of the Caribbean, he would drop his anchor and sweat it out. He was sledged but he knew what it meant to stick around and invariably come up with a Captain’s Knock.
Sourav Ganguly sent a message to the mighty Australians and the meticulous Steve Waugh when he made the Aussie Captain wait for a toss during the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy. It was a small but a tactical move. Its equivalent to saying – You are on my turf and you better play according to my rules. Sometimes its these small incidents which can lead to bigger upset in major series.
The sight of a Graeme Smith walking out to bat with a broken arm and looking out to bat 8.4 overs does send a very strong to the opposition. I am willing to die defending the honor of my country rather than sitting in the corner with an ice pack on .No wonder he was the “Bravest Man In Cricket World” at the moment.
Clive Llyod incited that ruthless aggression and the resilience into “Calypso Cricket”. There is popular saying in Windies Cricket
Ten Youngsters thrown together is not a team it is a gang
Llyod defied this remarkable calm and composure. In his own words
“I wanted to have a different team with different thinking. Shed all the stuff that we had before. We are now a team, a West Indian Team working together so that the young people can understand that we can work for a better life and a better future. One People ,One Nation, One Destiny”
Which Cricketing nerd will ever be able to forget the “I intend to make then Grovel” remark that Tony Greig made during the 1976 West indies tour of England.Clive Llyod never said much in response to his remark. He let his team’s performance speak volumes. The phenomenal pace battery let the world know what it felt like when you put your hand in a snake pit. And of course there were young Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge being nurtured under the mature head of Llyod and carving a niche for themselves. The result -the slaves whipped the ass of their colonial masters.
A student of the game
As Harsha Bhogle once said that Cricket is the only game where you can be a absolute genius at one aspect and an absolute zero at the other end.
A Cricket Captain has to be an avid reader of the game. If the Captain is a batsmen even then he has make key decision about what line and lengths to be bowled and which bowling change to be brought when. He can’t get away owing to his ignore to the other departments of the game. Similarly if the Captain is a bowler then also he has to figure out the batting order and make key changes in order to align with the situation.
The fielding position and fields to be placed at certain specific positions all has to be done very judiciously .The choice of the power plays ,the decision to take a new ball -these may sound like small choices but they can be determining factor in the outcome of the game.
A key decision in this regard was letting Ishant Sharma have that extended spell against Ricky Ponting which eventually got him out. The skipper could easily given Ishant a rest but he saw that the young fast bowler was uprooting the finest batsman’s grip of the game.
Sportsmanship
With so much of social media and media being allowed to meddle with Cricket, a simple contest is sometimes simulated as being warfare. The Indo-Pak matches or the Ashes rivalry can sometimes be blown out of proportion by the over excited fans .It is at this moment that it feels so soothing to see opposite team’s Captains coming out and shaking hands and commending each other’s effort. All that is said on the Cricket field should end there.
It is so good to see true sportsmanship from the Captain as it sets out an example for the entire team. A example which springs to mind is Dhoni’s decision to call Ian Bell back to back after he was adjudged out.
We have to realize that at the end of the day it is a sport. Of course winning is paramount but even the greatest have tasted defeated sometimes in their life. There is a lot to learn from defeat too. It tells us to rise stronger each time we fall. Great Captains will always find a lot to learn from the most embarrassing of the defeats .It is only when the chips are down and out that a true leader emerges and changes the face of the team’s character.
Here’s to all the superb Cricket Captains that I have loved watching and learnt a lot from.
Cheers.