Dubai: As Virat Kohli leads the Indian squad out against England in Pune on Sunday in what would be his first assignment as the captain in all three formats, the voices of endorsement for his appointment can still be heard all around.
His performance as the Test captain for the last two years, by all accounts, has toughened him up for the fulltime job — and it creates the perfect backdrop for Indian cricket’s man of the moment to take overall charge.
The England One-day side, led by Eoin Morgan, are a different kettle of fish and is expected to pose a much tougher challenge than the Test series, though Kohli’s first big challenge lies in the title-defence in Champions Trophy in England in June. Gulf News takes a look at the five major factors expected to work in favour of Kohli in his new role:
1 Leading by example:
The tag of arguably being the best batsman in contemporary cricket means Kohli will command an unstinted support from his team members. His stature as the mainstay of Indian batting has grown by leaps and bounds since the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar in end-2013, while the year gone by had just been like a dream for Kohli.
What’s more, Kohli has managed to convert responsibility into runs and proved time and again that the burden of Test captaincy has only made him hungrier for success. A look at his batting figures as the Test captain is tell-tale: in 35 innings spread over 22 matches, Kohli has amassed 2,111 runs at a stupendous average of 63.97. His career-best knock of 235 came during this phase in the last series versus England, while he scored eight centuries in this phase.
Yes, there will be the additional burden of captaincy in all three formats, but he looks a customer not to shy away from the challenges.
2 Grooming period:
There is a certain degree of similarity between the manner in which Kohli and his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the reins of captaincy in all forms of the game. Dhoni started the other way with the Twenty20 World Cup success in 2007 and then took over in all formats within a year once Anil Kumble, the then Test captain, decided to call time on his illustrious career.
It is expected to be far more smoother for Kohli, whose aggression and tactical nous in the longer version of the game in the last two years has already earned enough praise. The art of captaincy in limited overs cricket is, in Dhoni’s own words, a ‘simpler’ task and should not be a problem for Kohli — who has already established himself as one of the best finishers in this format.
3 Average age-group:
Kohli stands at a distinct advantage on this ground vis-a-vis his predecessor. When Dhoni was handed over the Test captaincy in 2008, he had to lead a team comprising of the reigning deities of Indian cricket in the ‘Fab Four’ of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman — not to speak of his peers likes Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh or a Zaheer Khan.
In comparison, Kohli looks very much in charge in a squad with men in and around his age group like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin or Ishant Sharma. One does not foresee the rocky terrain of Dhoni, who chose to bite the bullet by showing the exit door to Dravid and Ganguly from the one-day side, while sharing cold vibes with the likes of Sehwag and Gambhir.
4 Integrity of team:
This advantage may seem to be a bit out of context now, but is certainly worth mentioning. There are theories, and often with enough credence, behind Tendulkar’s stepping down from the hot seat in the wake of charges of corruption and match-fixing being rampant among a handful of senior team members.
Ganguly, who was thrust into captaincy in 2000, succeeded in forging the new India with the help of the ‘Fab Four’ and the emerging talents Fortunately for Kohli, those days seem like a bad dream and Team India is a new focused breed with great team ethos.
5 Presence of Dhoni :
It will be a bonus to have someone like Dhoni behind the stumps in the One Day Internationals and T20s. With a wealth of experience of over 12 years as a captain and player, Dhoni will be at hand to come up with invaluable inputs from behind the stumps as his reading of the game is par excellence.
‘My job will be to assist Kohli from behind the stumps,’ said Dhoni, who feels the current team with the age group they are in are destined for a longer reign at the top.
The calm head and batsmanship of Dhoni, who will be coming higher up the batting order, will be invaluable for Kohli in tougher challenges like the Champions Trophy in June in England.
