IPL 9: New captains Zaheer and Raina outshine Dhoni
It's an unforgiving tournament, the Indian Premier League. As the halfway stage of the T20 tournament has been crossed, there has been no dearth of hard fours, bold sixes, and breathtaking fielding efforts. And if you thought the bowlers were there only to languish, ask Zaheer Khan how he has swung the fortunes of the Delhi Daredevils.
On Marc 30, even as the mercury touched 42 degrees Celsius and the Feroze Shah Kotla resembled a cauldron, Zak Khan showed he can lead from the front brilliantly. His penetrating three-wicket haul against traditional IPL rivals Kolkata Knight Riders brought into focus the nuances of instant cricket. Here is a man who has stopped playing international cricket.
There were doubts over his form, fitness and ability to fire against the best batsmen before the tournament. Not only has Zaheer bowled with craft and guile, he has shown the heart to take on the challenge with great zest. It is this ability to lead from the front which has given the Delhi Daredevils a new look and their ability to win with consistency has caught the eye.
At a time when people are going gaga over Rahul Dravid as the mentor of Daredevils, Zaheer has led like a true Khan and inspired confidence in a side which simply used to make up the numbers previously.
The question for fans of the Daredevils is if the team can sustain the tempo over the next few weeks and dominate the points table further.
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| Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina. |
This is a tournament which has seen plenty of new things. With the Chennai Super Kings suspended for two years and their players almost divided between Gujarat Lions, led by the charismatic Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni's Pune side, there has been a lot of interest in these two teams.
Dhoni's new team has been hit hard by injuries and the departure of Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis have only made matters worse. All along one knew that leading a new side would be challenging for Dhoni after the success he had with CSK. Yet, when one talks of leadership styles, Dhoni and new captain Raina have approached the jobs differently.
Raina has looked very comfortable and handled the mix of old teammates with new ones very well. Under him, players like Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Ravindra Jadeja have performed creditably.
To be sure, though Raina has led Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy, he had no previous experience of leading an IPL team.
If Dhoni versus Raina is the theme to look at, the latter has grabbed the chances which came his way. He has taken to leadership like a seasoned champion and also batted well after a poor run in the ICC World T20.
For those who have marvelled Dhoni for being an inspirational leader when he led CSK, there are shortcomings now to see. He is trying hard with his own batting but when it comes to implementing decisions on the ground, he has not looked smart, with R Ashwin not given his full quota of overs in a few matches.
On a day when the Kings XI Punjab management decided to sack David Miller unceremoniously and hand over the reins to Murali Vijay, it brought into focus how tough it's to be a leader in the IPL. In the good old days, captains in Test cricket were part of the team even if their own form was wretched.
But since the time Mumbai Indians took the call and sacked Ricky Ponting midway through the IPL in 2013 and handed over charge to Rohit Sharma, it became clear one has to perform in the IPL. Or perish.
Here is a tournament where the high intensity of play, extreme heat, jet lag and living out of suitcases make it a big challenge for the players. The player can have an off day but not the captain of the side.
He is like a pilot in the cockpit of a long haul flight. There may be an autopilot mode, but the captain always has to be alert at the controls.
The IPL captain, too, has a job as demanding. If players like Zaheer, Raina and Rohit Sharma have handled the high pressure job well, it's evident from the results of the three teams.
The Mumbai Indians have had ups and downs, and despite being robbed of a home base from this month, they have to perform at peak. Rohit has shown he can soak in the pressure, as he did last year, when the side bounced back to win the title.
As far as topping the batting chart goes in IPL 9, Virat Kohli has enthralled with his classical batting style. No ugly heaves and cross-batted swipes, he has defined classical batting even in the T20 format with his own brand of authentic stroke production.
Where Kohli has been hampered while leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore is not having the support of a good bowling line-up. Even when the side had scored in excess of 180, lack of bite in the bowling attack has cost them. Yet, the Indian Test captain has won the first battle against Dhoni. And should Kohli's boys defeat Dhoni's side again, it will throw up definite pointers to the future.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)