Virat Kohli: Does he have the ability to lead India? Ever since the 2007 T20 World Cup that saw MS Dhoni lead a young side to victory, India have had no worries regarding leadership. There was a brief phase in between when India were struggling in the longer version of the game and the selectors were said to be contemplating a change in guard but in retrospect it is clear that it would have been a calamitous mistake. The Indian team needed a leader like Dhoni after the debacle of the 2007 ODI World Cup where India were evicted from the group stages. He was young, he had cemented his place in his side, he had a good cricketing mind and there was an aura of self-belief about him. Six years on, MS Dhoni has achieved a lot in the game and his time is still not done. He will lead India in the 2015 World Cup if all goes to plan, but it is about time when India should start thinking about breeding the next leader. Till a few months ago, Gautam Gambhir would have been the next in line but the steep decline in his form has meant that he has lost his place in the side. Moreover, his exhibition as a leader at the latest edition of the Indian Premier League was embarrassing. He is too expressive with his emotions, vulnerable to losing his cool and that is a deterrent given the kind of influence the sport has on fans in India. Instead, the Indian selectors would want to replicate the model, as closely as they can, which they developed with Dhoni at the helm. Virat Kohli has been chosen for the job, and he is currently captaining the side in the West Indies as Dhoni was ruled out of the series after suffering an injury in the first game against the West Indies. He was in charge of the team when West Indies chased down India’s total in the same game and captained the side full-time in the huge loss against Sri Lanka. Two consecutive defeats are no indication of the leadership potential that he has but it might say something about the fact that he was perhaps caught on the wrong foot by the sudden coming of the responsibility. It was only a week back that he was dancing Gangnam-style after winning the Champions Trophy in a gesture that prominently brought out the child in him. This is not to say that he is naive and not ready, but perhaps the process of nurturing has only just begun. The fact that Virat Kohli has been India’s most consistent batsman in the last year and a half augurs well for this process. He has established himself in this side at a very young age, he has prior experience of leading the Indian side at the U-19 level and has a good cricketing brain as we witnessed at the Indian Premier League when he led the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 15:59:17 +0000
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