A Game of Thrones for the CricFans

- By Atul Agarwal

Not everyone is born with exemplary leadership abilities. It comes naturally to some than others, though it is really difficult to find someone who possesses this extraordinary skill. A leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

The Indian Cricket Team has unfailingly been blessed with versatile foremen. From Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi in the 1960s, Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s, Kapil Dev in the 1980s, Mohammad Azharuddin in the 1990s, Saurav Ganguly in the early-2000s, to M S Dhoni in the last decade, we’ve had men who truly turned out to be the true talisman for their nation.

It is after the resignation of M S Dhoni, the man who has won virtually every international silverware as a captain, that the Indian Cricket Team has had more questions than answers. With no major tournament accolades under his belt, and after two back to back overseas Test debacles, the current Indian skipper Virat Kohli has come under the scanner of Indian fans and cricket pundits.

With the Indian Deputy Skipper Rohit Sharma making a strong case for himself before the World Cup, there’s mounting pressure on Kohli to win back the trust of his followers and the experts to take Indian Cricket to unfathomable heights.

Let us analyse below some of the captaincy traits that both these men boast of.

Mind against Sword

Kohli gets impulsive in trying situations, which affects his ability to maintain composure while taking on-field calls. On the other hand, there is some kind of serenity visible in the way Rohit Sharma approaches the game. He is, more often than not, undisturbed which does not let pressure get the better of him. Having said that, Virat Kohli’s leadership attributes resemble those of Sourav Ganguly. He brings the kind of aggression on the field, which goes missing when Rohit Sharma takes charge.

Gruesome Battles

Rohit Sharma has led Mumbai Indians to three IPL titles, and he also crafted India’s Asia Cup triumph few weeks ago. After being quite docile in the first half of IPL 2015 where Mumbai Indians could only manage to win one game out of their first six, Rohit Sharma skilfully scripted a turnaround story and helped Mumbai Indians emerge victorious for the second time. On the other hand, Kohli has failed to win any major tournament as a captain. Two IPL final defeats, maximum number of bottom four finishes, and the loss against Pakistan in Champions Trophy 2017 final never really helped his case.

Who’s the real Jon Snow

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have led by example whenever they got the opportunities. Captaincy brings out the best in both these stalwarts of the game, with their batting records vouching loudly for them.  Virat Kohli’s 17 test tons at an average of 65 and 14 ODI tons at an average of 84 as captain speaks wonders about his ability to turn the game single handed. On a similar note, Rohit Sharma’s 2 hundreds and 2 fifties, including a double hundred, at an average of 105, isn’t too far behind. 

One Man Across Battlefields

An advantage that Virat Kohli enjoys over Rohit Sharma is that he is the best batsman across all the three formats of the game. Given the fact that he is sure to play both Test and Limited Overs Cricket, with Rohit Sharma being consistently ignored for Test Cricket, he will be a better suited candidate for captaincy for a team like India, which has historically had single captains who were extremely successful across formats.

Tyrion Lannister – The Strategist

Rohit Sharma has been tremendously adaptable with his calls during the matches. He changes the field and shuffles his bowlers amazingly, which makes it difficult for the batsmen to predict his next move. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, isn’t too fond of amending his plans according to the situation, even if things get crooked.

The Faith Militant

Virat Kohli is a little impatient with his players’ performances, which makes it difficult for the team members to play with a positive mindset. The constant rotation of playing eleven based on one or two poor performances doesn’t work well with their confidence. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, does not advocate constant change in the playing eleven, which shows the massive amount of faith he has for his quality players.

To sum it up, both these men carry unique captaincy attributes in their repertoire, though Kohli is far more superior than any of his peers in the batting department. Nevertheless, he really needs to achieve something substantial as a skipper, or the batten will simply be passed on to his deputy, though the likelihood of that happening before the World Cup is close to zero, given the unceasing support the BCCI has been extending in his favour.  Even if it does happen, it will be interesting to see whether Kohli is able to perform the same way he does now if Rohit becomes his captain – real food for thought! Feel free to join the discussion through the comments section. 

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