Kohli versus Dhoni debate is a slap on the face of Indian cricket
One of the easiest things for critics and pundits is to compare leadership styles. Be it politics or sport, almost day in and day out people dissect leadership styles.
Today, we live in an age, where news is so instant that you don't have to really wait for the morning newspaper. Social media, television and other platforms have made it so fast, nothing really waits till tomorrow.
These days, the in-thing in sport is to compare the captaincy styles of the two India cricket captains in different formats. And the beauty of this exercise, meaningful or not, is to also rope in well-known cricketers who are forced to make statements and assessments.
Everyone knows Ravichandran Ashwin, voted the best spinner in 2015, plays under MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli and the off-spinner has his take on it. The fear here is Ashwin is getting caught in making comparisons which is not really required.
The world of cricket sees Ashwin as a simple guy who plays cricket with passion and is a simpleton. Yet, when print and media scribes ask him a question on captaincy styles, he does answer.
In recent interviews, Ashwin compared Dhoni and Kohli's captaincy styles, which did offer an insight into what goes on beyond the boundary. Indeed, all this makes for interesting reading as a player like Ashwin is in the best position to tell us.
My point is, leadership and captaincy, be it any sphere of life, is not easy to compare. In politics, we have experts who debate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning since he took over in May 2014.
In sport, comparisons invariably take place but at a time when we have split captaincy at home in cricket, controversies are bound to be raised. The way the Indian team performed in Sri Lanka and against South Africa at home in the Test series, everyone is raving about Kohli the captain.
Agreed, he brings in positive energy and as Ashwin said, expects everyone to perform like him. But then, every cricketer who plays under Kohli cannot play like his captain. Each human is different from the other, so to think in a debate between two captains one is better sounds bizarre.
Kohli is the one for the future and his commitment to the team is fantastic. He is open in the way he communicates and doesn't believe in defensive measures. All this has worked till now but how Kohli leads the Test team abroad will provide us more pointers to his leadership.
The India versus Australia series Down Under has begun on an ominous note with Mohammed Shami returning home with a grade two hamstring injury even before the real action has begun. Obviously, after the 2015 World Cup, Shami has been rushed into international cricket and the damage has been done.
Given Dhoni's cool style of leadership, he will not get flustered that one important bowler in his pace attack has been ruled out. People who think Kohli is better than Dhoni need to understand what the ODI skipper has done till now.
Winning the World T20 in 2007, winning the 2011 World Cup at home and leading the team into the semi-finals last year in Australia proves his credentials as a fantastic leader in the shorter formats. And that's perhaps why he has been retained skipper till the World T20 at home as well. For any skipper, taking decisions is something natural. Dhoni has made it a habit of doing something unconventional, be it in promoting a batsman or changing the bowler. He was called the man with the Midas touch, though in his last days as Test captain he was lambasted by all and sundry.
If you look at some of the previous captains in Indian cricket, each had a distinctive style. Sunil Gavaskar was defensive and Kapil Dev lead with amazing energy. When India were bowled out for 183 in the World Cup final against West Indies in 1983 at Lords, Kapil had a small meeting and motivated the teammates like a commander in the Army. "Let's fight jawans... let's fight till the end," he said in Hindi. And that win changed the face of Indian sport. Mike Brearley was a better captain than a player and led England with panache in the '80s while Imran Khan almost had a dictatorial approach when he led Pakistan.
The point is, in each era, the leadership style work differently. Look at modern football, despite the star footballers who are paid in millions of dollars, what finally matters is the manager who can bring on the magic. Sir Alex Ferguson left it tough for his successors David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. And if you look at the all time list, from Pep Guardiola to Guus Hiddink each had his own style.
One look at leadership in Indian tennis in the Davis Cup and you will see how Naresh Kumar was more formal and a disciplinarian compared to Jaidip Mukherjea. In recent times, Anand Amritraj is supposed to be a captain who stands by the players and never lets controversies get blown out of proportion.
Back to Kohli versus Dhoni, the debate can do more damage than good to Indian cricket. Till such time Dhoni is an active captain, comparisons are simply not needed.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)