From Pataudi to Dhoni: What it takes to be an Indian cricket captain
Almost 40 years ago, Indian cricket stood in a shambles, passing through a door of darkness. A tour of England which earned the disreputable nomenclature of “Summer of 42”; internecine sniping between skipper Ajit Wadekar and senior bowler Bishen Singh Bedi and an atrocious capitulation in the three Tests, left Indian cricket in disarray.
A whole generation of Indian cricketers were exposed and thus left with no option but to retire. The twin overseas victories over England and West Indies were a distant memory. Savants wanted blood and the "Summer of 42" (India were humiliatingly bowled out for their lowest Test score of 42 at Lord’s by Chris Old and Geoff Arnold) signaled the end of Ajit Wadekar as the captain of India. India has had a history of fractious teams. Bedi and Wadekar never got along, Gavaskar and Bedi had their fair share of trauma, Ravi Shastri never spoke to Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Sidhu walked out of an England tour because he couldn’t have a conversation with his skipper Azhar, MS Dhoni had his problems with both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, fissures opened up between Gavaskar and Kapil Dev over the captaincy et al. Inter personal problems are a way of life, you can’t expect everybody to like everybody else. And Indian cricket is replete with such instances.
Confidence
Tiger Pataudi was probably the first Indian captain to instill some sort of confidence into our cricketers. From confidence comes self-belief and to some degree, arrogance that you are better than the best. All this has to be built on the edifice of performance. And willy-nilly, performance overseas became the benchmark for real success. It became a catechism to ascertain the real character of our cricketers. Tiger led by example and his own bat. At Leeds, following on against England in 1967, he waged war against the quicks, scoring 148. This after battling single-handedly in the first innings, where he scored 67. A year later in Australia, he showed his class again by scoring 75 and 85 with just one good eye and on one leg at Melbourne. Tiger was cerebral having grown up in England and playing and captaining Sussex; he found his metier despite his handicap.
In 1974-75, when India was desperately looking for a captain against the West Indies at home, the onus was on a semi-retired Tiger to pick up the pieces after the distasteful tour of England which included all round embarrassment both on and off the field, including a fracas over the High Commissioner’s reception and the abomination of Sudhir Naik being discredited for shoplifting. The selectors were in a quandary. All roads led to a retired Tiger Pataudi’s house. Tiger told the selectors, “Do you want a batsman or captain? If you want the latter I am available.” Tiger, being Tiger, unleashed his troika of spinners on a hapless young Windies team which was brimming with future stars – Andy Roberts, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Alvin Kallicharan et al. Tiger miraculously leveled the series after being two-love down, but lost the decider in what was then Bombay. It was unbelievable to think that Tiger had become captain at such a young age. Circumstances played a part since the incumbent Nari Contractor was struck down by a fiery bouncer in the West Indies. Tiger remained virtually unchallenged for close to a decade, till Vijay Merchant’s casting vote hastened the end. Though he continued playing thereafter, he was never the same batsman as failing eyesight in his good eye, meant that he was unable to pick the ball.
Interestingly, even in the series against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1974-75, Tiger was injured for the second Test, as was Sunil Gavaskar who was hit by Pandurang Salgaonkar in the nets. Farokh Engineer thought he had got the job for the second Test at Kotla, but S Venkataraghavan walked out for the toss leaving Engineer bemused and perplexed. Tiger returned in Kolkata and used his mas- terly tactics of employing spin to bamboozle Windies and win two on a trot. It was here that he played a cameo. Despite being hit on the jaw by a rampaging Andy Roberts, an unflinching Pataudi hit Vanburn Holder for a six and followed it up with four successive boundaries.
Indian cricket has seen many captains since and many duels, adversarial issues and ego clashes. After Tiger, it is true that both Gavaskar and Kapil Dev did well for India, but it is Sourav Ganguly with his natural aggression, who provided stability to the job. He built a rugged no nonsense unit of enterprising cricketers melding the old with the neophytes and instilled pride in them to outsmart his rivals overseas. He remained a tough and uncompromising cricketer, never known to back down and always ready to offer some lip to his opponents. Master of chatter himself, he made his team ruthless, burnishing self belief at all times.
MS Dhoni was a child born of the great exercise of democratisation of Indian cricket. With a cataclysmic dispersal taking place in the new century, cricket spread wider and deeper into far flung areas. International cricketers began to emerge from Odisha, Jharkhand, UP, Kerala and now even J&K. Traditional powerhouses began to wane. Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka gave way to new champions. Dhoni himself exemplified this change. A flamboyant persona complete with long hair, brutish as a batsman and yet calm and understated as a captain. It was as if there were two Dhonis – a bike loving destructive batsman – who turned inscrutable while captaining. Always in the background, when his team celebrated, but there in the forefront as a finisher. Winning almost every trophy in cricket – the ICC T20, ICC World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, the tri-series in Australia and of course the ICC Trophy for the best Test side.
Speculation
Now embroiled in IPL shenanigans, speculation remains over his role in the betting scandal given that he is skipper of the Chennai Super Kings, a team tarnished by allegations of corruption and fixing. That his name figures in the Mudgal Panel report to the Supreme Court only makes his position more tenuous. A suspected hand injury (he was seen keeping goal in the ISL tamasha) prevented him from arriving in Australia for the first Test, adding credence to his impending ouster.
Indian cricket captains have always been tormented and finally chased out. Public scrutiny and media oversight have made life uncomfortable, and sometimes impossible. History is littered with examples. Two of the best – Wadekar and Tiger – are perhaps the best proof of this concept, as they were troubled and tormented to the degree of breakdowns. Dhoni deemed it fit to save a Test and walk out with his head held high, an inexplicable decision by Australia to let India off the hook at MCG working to his advantage. Dhoni’s role in Indian cricket cannot be undermined, despite the “taint” that sticks to him for IPL.
Strategies
He was a team leader, but one who worked out of his own cocoon, at his own pace and clearly in his own way. He made smart strategic decisions in the shorter formats, but allowed things to drift needlessly in Test cricket. I must add here though that even his captaincy can be divided into pre-2011 World Cup and post WC. Dhoni was more attacking before the World Cup, more muddled and confused after. His arrogance sometimes got the better of him and some of his decision making in Tests in the last couple of years, were truly baffling. The biggest shocker was his bowling in a Test in England. Get out before the shoe comes, clearly must have been reverberating in Dhoni’s mindspace.
Dhoni was charismatic, equally he quelled all challengers to the throne, including Gambhir and Sehwag. Virat Kohli is the spanking new face of new India, perhaps a tad ugly, brash, not given to keeping quiet, wearing emotions and aggression on his sleeve. Nothing has changed from the time he captained the under-19 to a World Cup win, time seems to have stood still, while he still plays his cricket the hard way. As a captain he requires caution, but if he can get his bat to continue to do the talking, then who knows what new heights await Indian cricket.