Inspiring tales of leadership

Cricket is perhaps the only sport that relies so heavily on captains. The captain literally gets to frame the team according to his ideology, has the biggest say in picking the playing XI before every game and is the man behind all the on-field strategies. Simply put, a lot rides on captaincy in cricket. In its rich history, cricket has been blessed with several acclaimed captains who were instrumental in winning the World Cup for their respective countries. Sidney Kiran takes a look at some of them.

Clive Lloyd

Before Clive Lloyd took over the reins of the West Indies team in 1974, they were just an amalgamation of talented cricketers from various islands of the Caribbean. While some of them were exceptionally gifted individually, the sense of purpose of playing for a team wasn’t there largely as each one came from a different country. Llyod, nicknamed the Big Cat for the large brooding 6’5’’ frame, changed all of that. He first inculcated a sense of togetherness in the team, bringing about a camaraderie and spirit hitherto unseen. He kick-started the revolution by leading the side to World Cup glory with a brilliant century in the final. Llyod’s moment of reckoning came during their ill-fated tour of Australia later that year when they were hammered 5-1. Llyod then changed the face of West Indies cricket that is still talked about today. He took cue from Australia’s ultra aggressive bowling approach and felt the best way to win is blood the side with ruthless fast bowlers who can intimidate the opposition batters. The ploy worked as West Indies went on to win the 1979 World Cup before losing in the final of the 1983 edition against India. Lloyd remains as one the greatest captains ever. 

Kapil Dev 

Kapil Dev with the 1983 World Cup.

A lot has been written and documented about what Kapil Dev did to Indian cricket in 1983 where his bunch of ragtag boys produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports. When India landed in England for the World Cup, hardly anyone gave a chance to the Indians with the West Indies being the favourites for a hat-trick. In fact, even many of the Indian players didn’t believe they could emerge champions. But Kapil, one of the greatest all-rounders and a tenacious fighter, strongly believed he could hoist the trophy. He instilled that self-belief in the team and showed the impossible can be done when he scored an epic 175 not out to bail the team out from 17/5 to 266/8 as India defeated Zimbabwe by 31 runs. Even in the final when India were blown apart for 183 all out by a ruthless West Indies attack, Kapil never lost belief and goaded the side to give it all during the chase. His men responded like warriors and the unthinkable happened as India bowled out West Indies for 140. That changed the face of Indian cricket completely and Kapil deserves all the credit.

Imran Khan 

Imran Khan after winning the 1992 World Cup.

Leading a side with a brittle batting line-up, an unhappy batting great Javed Miandad and a young but talented pace attack is not an easy task, especially when you are 39 years old. At the beginning it seemed Pakistan wouldn’t make the semifinal cut after managing just one win from five matches. But Imran, one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling, backed his men and they rebounded in resplendent fashion. Imran passed on his tricks of the trade to Wasim Akram and Aqib Javed and the duo were on fire in the later half of the tournament. Imran, who graduated from Keble College (Oxford), was instrumental in coaxing and firing up Miandad, mentoring the young crop of pacers and foremost, making the team believe they can go the distance. 

Arjuna Ranatunga

Arjuna Ranatunga

From being labelled minnows even in the early 1990s to being crowned world champions at the 1996 Word Cup, the transformation of Sri Lanka is largely due to the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. He didn’t just turn Lanka into world champions but a force in world cricket. Like how Lloyd figured the best way to attack is play four fearsome pacers, Ranatunga brought about a change in the way ODI cricket was played then. He gave Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana the licence to tear apart attacks in the opening 15 overs while the brilliant middle-order of Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda de Silva and Ranatunga himself ensured the tempo was always maintained. His captaincy was daring and he instilled a strong self-belief in his side, who defied all the odds to power past Australia in the final at Lahore. 

MS Dhoni 

Yuvraj Singh (left) and MS Dhoni celebrate after winning 2001 the World Cup.

MS Dhoni, an upcoming youngster with oodles of naturally-cultivated talent, took charge of the Indian team when Rahul Dravid stepped down following the ODI series loss in England. Before that, Dhoni had led a bunch of youngsters to T20 World Cup glory in 2007 and was a natural successor to ODI captaincy. He slowly built a team according to his liking. He phased out some of the seniors to inject the team with fresh legs, largely because  they were better fielders and could save extra 20-30 runs in a game. He had it tough initially but with the BCCI backing, he had his way and Dhoni transformed the side into world beaters. He was an expert at managing the egos of superstar players like Sachin Tendulkar, great at mentoring youngsters and possessed street-smart skills while making judgements on the field, especially when things were tense. The winning six during the 2011 World Cup was the icing on the cake for the turnaround he brought to the team.

Top: MS Dhoni with a young Virat Kohli after winning 2011 World Cup at Wankade stadium in Mumbai. Arjuna Ranatunga (right) with the 1996 World Cup. DH File Photo