Asia Cup 2014: India's top captains and what Virat Kohli can learn from them

Virat Kohli is under tremendous expectations

India’s laboured overseas trips have finally come to a close and the safe-haven of the sub-continent calls as the Asia Cup begins on 25th February. Virat Kohli will step into the shoes of MS Dhoni once again but it will be a little more than an experiment this time around. The recent losses in South Africa and New Zealand compounded the pain of the catastrophic losses that India had suffered in Australia and England.

Dhoni’s ability to lead the side in alien conditions has been questioned vociferously this time around. Ex-Indian captains including Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly have criticized Dhoni’s defensive tactics and Ian Chappell ridiculed Dhoni in no mild words when he said, “…as a Test captain he’s too reactive and has a tendency to let the game meander along, like an absent-minded professor strolling in the park.”

While such an assessment may be too harsh, we cannot deny that Dhoni’s epoch will come to an end with the 2015 World Cup and there is a need to look beyond him.

Asia Cup will be a true test of character for Virat Kohli. The competition brings with it a massive set of expectations. Indian fans are in urgent need of a lift as the wounds suffered against New Zealand and South Africa need some healing. The tournament brings with it the crucial contest against arch-rivals Pakistan which is always keenly watched and draws extreme emotions.

The tournament is also a teaser to the World T20 that will ensue soon after in Bangladesh. Kohli offers a new style of leadership. He has a refreshing, exciting but vulnerable personality and the same will find expression in his captaincy which makes for an intriguing scenario.

This article will attempt to look at India’s outstanding leaders of the past 25 years: the period that has seen the emergence of the ODI format. It will take a look back at how they expressed their personalities on the field, the performances that they drew from their respective sides and what Kohli can draw from each figure. We begin chronologically from 1983 when India broke through their shell to announce themselves on the world stage with that unforgettable triumph at the World Cup:

Kapil Dev

India’s greatest all-rounder, dubbed the Haryana Hurricane, was perhaps the most charismatic leader in the glorious history of Indian cricket. There was a rare combination of simplicity and flair in the person of Kapil Dev. He still remains a unique commodity in the Indian archive simply on the merit of his cricketing skills: a fast bowling all-rounder whose exploits are shadowed by his more celebrated contemporaries such as Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee.

Kapil Dev took the reins of the side when the team was searching for an identity and he gave it one. Many emphasize the fact that India triumphed over a world-class West Indian side defending a meagre total and slip in a casual remark about the luck of it all. The fact, however, is that India had defeated West Indies earlier in the same tournament and convincingly so. The win, more than anything else, emphasized the value and worth of spirit against the power and prestige of reputation.

Kapil Dev changed Indian cricket forever in 1983

We can perhaps pick innumerable moments that defined a long and glorious career. However, that critical knock of 175 against Zimbabwe stands out and one wonders whether that changed the course of Indian cricket. This was an example of fighting with your back against the wall if there ever was one.

India were dwindling at 17 for 5 when Kapil decided to knock the stuffing out of the opposition with counter-attacking cricket. The unexpected victory lifted the team so that India registered a massive 118 run win in the next game spurred on by 4-wicket hauls for Roger Binny and Madan Lal as the team started to come into its own. This is the stuff great leaders are made of. They stand up in times of desperation and they re-fuel the side, extract the most from a player’s potential.

Virat Kohli can take so much from this exemplary legend of Indian cricket. He had that x-factor that allowed him to intervene in situations when India were losing their way and his all-round abilities allowed him to do that. That magical and unforgettable catch in the 1983 World Cup final is another example of this X-factor.

Kapil Dev took great pride in playing for India and leading India and put the nation of the cricketing map. Kohli’s agenda must be to maintain India’s supremacy in the limited overs format keeping in mind fostering in his heart the same passion for national glory.

Mohammad Azharuddin

The tragic fate of Hansie Cronje was exaggerated into a legend by his early death but few sincerely mourn the scarred career of Md. Azharuddin who captained India through the 90s. Those who had the pleasure and honour of watching Azhar bat at his peak know that he was sculptor among paltry woodcutters. The magical wrists, the delicate handwork concealed the few technical flaws of his batsmanship. Azhar had announced himself in the Test arena with three consecutive Test centuries but his batting took a back-seat when he took over the leadership role.

Azhar exuded a sense of lazy comfort when he batted or as he stood with up-standing collars in the covers but it was a kind of deception that he practised. His hands were magically quick and his fielding was agricultural but effective. He practised the same kind of deception in his leadership as he lead India through a number of important home wins in the Test format at a time when we were still a cricketing nation of limited talents.

The pitches were made to order and Indian spinners made best use of it and the strategy worked for India. Azhar led a convincing campaign in 1996 but it wasn’t to be as India fell at the semi-finals hurdle to eventual champions Sri Lanka. The high-point of that campaign was India’s victory over a powerful Pakistan side in the quarter-finals.

Azharuddin seems to be a figure from a distant and buried past that belies the actual historic distance which is not so much. Kohli can derive from Azhar’s epoch the ability to utilize resources so as to maximize results. Kohli can also learn the obvious lesson of what not to do from the tragic legacy of Md. Azharuddin.

Sourav Ganguly

There is a strong feeling among close observers of Indian cricket that Ganguly brought to Indian cricket something that had not existed before he took the reigns. I have thought long and hard to define that something: aggression, youth, hunger, team spirit are certainly contenders. However, the specific aspect that I think defined Ganguly as a personality, as a leader which left a deep imprint on successive generations of Indian cricketers was arrogance.

I mean the word to be a virtue and not in a pejorative sense. May it be his bare-bodied heroics when India chased down 325 runs in the Natwest final of 2002 or making Steve Waugh wait at the toss, Ganguly earned at every step his popular nickname of “The Bengal Tiger” by virtue of his ferocious assertiveness. He would never leave a challenge unanswered.

Sourav Ganguly was an aggressive captain

He fostered a team for India’s 2003 World Cup campaign that wasn’t typical. There was batting genius as there always was but he added youthful energy and enthusiasm to it, projected a united front and many remember the tradition of the hurdle that began during that epoch.

India’s fielding drastically improved under Ganguly’s captaincy and one could see what that little change of attitude could bring to a cricketing side. India went all the way to the finals in the tournament only falling at the final hurdle but that World Cup has left such unforgettable memories for Indian fans that I personally don’t rate it anything less that the eventual triumph in 2011.

What Kohli can derive from Ganguly, and in a sense which he already imbibed being of that generation that grew up inspired by that 2003 side, is that ferociousness with which a united Indian team asserted itself over its opponents. There was a distinct feeling in that epoch that India had lost its inferiority complex, especially overseas, and that they were second to none. Kohli has Ganguly’s natural aggression and hopefully he’ll take his spiritual mentor’s legacy forward.

Rahul Dravid

The spell-binding reign of Sourav Ganguly had come to a dismal halt. Ganguly’s best years with the bat were past him post 2005-06 and Dravid took up the mantle from thereon. The stark contrast between the personalities couldn’t be over-emphasized. If Ganguly was bashful, Dravid was composed. If Ganguly was stinging fire, then Dravid was the subtle but sublime force of water.

The original Mr. Cricket, India’s most consistent batsman in the last few years, was the natural choice for the job given Tendulkar’s reluctance to play the part. Dravid had proved what a team-player he was when he took the gloves for the side during the 2003 World Cup allowing the side to have greater resources.

Dravid’s outstanding example as a leader was that he lead by example. His stats tell the story that he never suffered with his batting inspite of the uneasy crown of captaincy as Ganguly and Azhar had suffered. It is perhaps not recognized enough but Dravid led India to historic Test victories overseas in South Africa and England continuing India’s rise as a force that functioned beyond the sub-continent.

The image that left a lasting memory in my mind when it comes to Dravid’s reign is when he waved the Indian flag at the Wanderers after India’s historic first Test victory on South African soil. However, India’s miserable exit from the 2007 World Cup overshadowed his legacy as a captain and hopefully history will be able to look beyond it.

The outstanding aspect that Kohli needs to derive from Dravid’s reign is his ability to lead from the front, as well as his focus and dedication towards his own craft. India do not wish to carry 10 players and a captain but 11 players on the field. Kohli’s batting is arguably India’s greatest asset in the absence of MS Dhoni and he must ensure that captaincy does not become a burden on his batting abilities. Moreover, Kohli will not find a better role model when it comes to conduct on and off the field.

MS Dhoni

Enough has been said about the leadership skill of MS Dhoni. The man with the midas touch, epitome of composure and a performer under pressure par excellence. Dhoni has led India to three major international trophies which is an achievement unparalleled in Indian cricketing history. He has given India more happiness than any other Indian captain and for that only, I count him India’s greatest cricket captain ever.

The complexities of critical assessment however reveal something else. Dhoni’s record in the highest format of the game overseas is deplorable. One can argue that he has had the best resources India ever produced but still failed to prevail on that count. The debate will continue.

Dhoni took over the Indian side when Indian cricket was in shambles and honestly nobody gave much of a thought to an inaugural World T20. The stalwarts of Indian cricket had voluntarily excused themselves and Dhoni’s underdog team went all the way and with such aplomb that it engendered the 2011 World Cup triumph.

I see an obvious connection between the two events even though the duration of five years involved a rigorous, meticulous process of team-building. Dhoni walked out in the critical final when the game was even and smashed the game in India’s favour. What more can you demand from a leader? Dhoni’s history will reserve choice praise for him.

Kohli can derive so much from a leader of Dhoni’s class. The manner in which he conducts himself in pressure situations is something that wasn’t matched by world-winning leaders (Ricky Ponting for instance). His character on and off the field is spotless. He backs his players and makes sure that they have maximum chances to prove their potential. He hasn’t let the burden of captaincy put any kind of pressure on his batting abilities. Kohli will be facing an uphill task when trying to emulate him, the closer he gets to that task the better for India.