JOIN USIt’s not easy to be the captain of the Indian cricket team. Virat Kohli, like many of his predecessors, has faced harsh remarks from former players and pundits alike on his leadership abilities.
Currently, perhaps there is no cricketer who is better in skill and commitment than Kohli. Scoring centuries for fun, the right-hander has broken a string of batting records. The 30-year-old has met the gruelling demands of the sport with impeccable fitness level. But even the greats are questioned. A small blemish, in what has been a scintillating career so far, has been Kohli’s captaincy.
A successful skipper at home, he is still coming to grips with the challenges of leading India overseas in the longer format. Kohli has a brilliant record captaining in the limited overs format. However, comparisons with former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni don’t seem to cease and India’s 2-3 defeat to Australia in the ODIs recently stirred the debate once again.
“Dhoni is half the captain of the team. Kohli is visibly rough without him,” spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi said recently.
The IPL, the final tournament before World Cup, brings Kohli’s captaincy in focus again. In seven seasons as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper, Kohli is yet to win the title.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir took a dig at Kohli recently. “I don’t see him as a shrewd or a tactful captain. And he hasn’t won the IPL. So ultimately, a captain is only as good as his record suggests in IPL. He should be thankful to the franchise for still retaining him as the skipper despite poor results,” Gambhir said.
Kohli, on Friday, said he doesn’t think too much about what’s been discussed. “When you play the IPL, you want to win. But I don’t care whether I am judged on this or not. I try to win all the titles but sometimes it doesn’t happen. You have to think why we (RCB) don’t win and that’s because of bad decision making.
"Look, I know people talk about this a lot and they like to grab opportunities to talk like this. But I don’t care about what they say. If I do I won’t even survive for five games and I will be sitting at home,” Kohli said at a press conference here on Friday.
Stephen Fleming, coach of Chennai Super Kings, came in defence of Kohli. “Just because you are one of the best batters in the world, that doesn't mean you are going to have the success winning the IPL. There are a number of things that go towards it. One thing I know about Virat is that if there is a challenge in front of him, he meets it most time. Every franchise is wary of this.
“One man doesn't win IPL. It's a tough competition to win and it's getting tougher as teams are getting smarter. Players are more conditioned to the demands of IPL. Coaches and management have become shrewd in picking players,” he explained.