Saturday, May 23, 2020

Could Rohit Be Better White Ball Captain Than Kohli?


India’s disappointing exit in the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup 2019 was very agonizing for every cricket fan. Since the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, team India’s track record in the ICC knockout games has been disappointing. Indian teams look very formidable in every format now.  However, the act of choking in the business end of the tournament is somewhat unreasonable for a such talented side. Partly, MS was the Captain in those tournaments but most recently, Kohli is looking after the side as a formidable skipper for India. However, the pressure of knockout games and expectations has somewhat affected his captaincy in crucial stages of tournament. In both major tournaments (Champions Trophy 2017 and Cricket World Cup 2019), Kohli has somehow looked vulnerable as a captain.  

This takes us to one of debatable topics in the Indian cricket i.e. Should team India go with split captaincy in tests and limited overs? Could Rohit Be Better White Ball Captain Than Kohli? 

The root cause of the debate:

Kohli has been one of the finest captains for India in both red ball cricket and white ball cricket. In red ball cricket, specifically, his ability to attack in crucial moments and snatch the important moments is very inspiring for the team. Hands down, Kohli as a captain in test cricket has developed this Indian side to be one of the finest in both home and overseas conditions. But when it comes to white ball cricket, he has a mix bag as in major tournaments and knock-outs, Kohli is sometimes found susceptible to his own cause. Although, no captain is better than his team, from last 5 to 6 years he lacks that zing that would benefit for lifting the trophy. Its not that, Kohli is the worst, ideally, he has been very good as a skipper with such a huge win percentage (), but his problems in the knockouts is now somewhat reflecting in the test cricket too. Team India, recently, got white-washed in both one-day and tests in New Zealand under his leadership.
On the contrary, team India’s vice-captain has an excellent track-record in the limited opportunities. Under his captaincy, India has won the Asia cup in 2018 and Nidahas trophy in Srilanka. He even has 4 IPL titles under his belt. This somehow reflects that Rohit as a captain has shown more maturity and maybe cracked the code to win crucial games. Rohit as a cricketer has come a long way and his captaincy in IPL has revolutionized him as a leader.

Differences between the two in the IPL:

Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma
No IPL titles
4 IPL titles
Always had a potent batting line-up
Always had a potent yet dependable batting line-up
Batting relied mostly on Kohli and ABD
Batting relied on their young Indian talent i.e. core of their side (S Yadav, N Rana, I Kishan, A Rayudu, Young Rohit)
Inconsistent overseas players (except ABD)
Consistent overseas players throughout all seasons (K Pollard, L Malinga)
Changing balling line-ups and bowling leader
Formidable bowling line-up with the set core (Bumrah, Malinga, Hardik and Krunal)
Additions in bowling line-up have struggled (T Mills, M Starc, S Badree, T Southee, M Siraj)
Additions in bowling line-ups have shined (M Markande, S Gopal, R Chahar)
Struggled in death overs as a bowling unit
Shined in death overs as a bowling unit

The above differences in side, chopping and changing management, somehow reflects that Kohli didn’t had a settled side for once. Kohli as a captain is not bad but sometimes his indecision and tactics has gone under the scrutiny.

As a personal thought, I still believe that Virat as a captain has a far to reach and with the formidable Indian side, he would be one of the best white ball captains in this generation. Even though Rohit as a captain have risen to the occasion, I still think in India, split captaincy is never an answer to our woes. I think if a leader is good for your side, players should back him and give their 100 percent to support their skipper. Irrespective of the format, a good leader always plays as a leader.

Share your thoughts with me.

Image source- Indian Express.com 

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According to you, should team India go with split captaincy in tests and limited overs?

8 comments:

  1. Both of them are awesome gems which team India have got.....for me both of them are the best captains of all time....Yes.... I agree for split captaincy method for test......

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    1. Thankyou for your honest opinions I really appreciate your thoughts and eagerness to contribute here.

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  2. Rohit captained India in T-20 format only... He never got the chance to captain for ODIs... He should be the captain for Indian T-20 side .rohit has good consistency In Ipl than virat... As captain...so..

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    1. Fair points bro. Thankyou for your thoughts. I appreciate your honest opinions thankyou.

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  3. Rohit Sharma has the ability to do things well as a captain, but to me split captaincy is not India's necessity. So they won't go for it. The kind of players, support staff and support the Indian team has they should rather form a core strategic team (2-3 players in playing eleven like Rohit, Dhawan, Rahul and could even include bumrah) that could help the Indian captain with decisions in crucial junctures of a match and I think this would work regardless of the format reliving a lot of stress from the captain. They do something really similar with the MI camp where Pollard, Bumrah and Hardik advice Rohit in tough situations on field

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    1. Ya your absolutely right. In India we could form batting leaders, bowling and even fielding ones which would perpetuate the understanding of a unit in any match situation.

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  4. India will never bat for split captaincy. Though Rohit and Virat together are involved in decision making, both are great team players. As a leader Rohit has that calmness that gives him an edge over Virat. First just needs to be more decisive on the field and with his team. So that there are no ifs and buts left for the media.

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  5. Absolutely bro. They both can work together to form a unassailable duo that might help our side to win those crunch moments. As a calm head, Rohit can help Kohli in his tactics in dire situations as Dhoni did when he was around.

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