#DhoniRetires - Mentors needed to fill the leadership vacuum in Indian cricket

Dhoni walks away from captaincy and test cricket at the end of the Boxig Day test

Indian cricket is suffering from an uneasy calm at the very top. And neither the administrative body nor the team are immune to it. The sudden retirement of MS Dhoni right in the middle of an intense Test series against Australia raises more questions than it provides answers. While it is easy to understand the overflowing emotions with his departure, it is also essential to introspect the reasons for the gnawing vacuum that is taking the shape of a dense cloud.

Just for the record, Dhoni brought a refreshing attitude to work, and his captaincy took the team places. Let there be no doubt about that. The comfort with which he carried both veterans and wet ones was there for all to see. Dhoni has left a legacy that guarantees him a place among the elite captains of India.

The point though is about leadership, and walking away in the midst of a series does not reflect well on a seasoned captain. A little after eulogizing the contributions of Dhoni to this Test team, many of us will slip into a corner and realize that we may have said a tad more than was necessary. Derek Pringle, the former English player, offered some perspective with his reaction on Twitter.

“Dhoni appeared impressively cool under duress but to suggest he was a great Test captain is spinning it more than Prasanna & Bedi ever did,” concluded the Englishman. It was perhaps one of the most practical reactions to the retiring captain.

The rut stems from the men who run the game in our country. The people that ought to offer vision and energy are consumed in their lust for money, politicking and scandal. That being the case, they can hardly be trusted to provide any meaningful direction to the game.

One has to wonder if Dhoni would have been more justified if he had cleared the decks even before the team left for Australia. It was evident from the beginning that he wasn’t going to take the field for the first Test anyways.

If he had been decisive before the tour started, the team could have started the tour with clear heads and a new man at the helm. Instead we have musical chairs, where Virat Kohli takes the band for the first and the last, while Dhoni plans his retirement in between.

You would obviously expect better from a man with the calibre of Dhoni. Remember how he swept everyone off their feet with his intuitive approach to leadership and cucumber-like cool even in the midst of some heated action? Over the past two years though, Dhoni has been floundering away like a burdened man who forgot his lines.

Perhaps he should have taken this decision a long while ago, especially in Test cricket. But he was a man entrenched into the game at multiple levels – both as a player and a promoter. And somewhere along the way, it was apparent that Dhoni fell victim to his own clouded vision.

Now that he has abruptly made way in Tests, it offers Indian cricket another opportunity to revisit the leadership template. Cricket is a team game that needs collective excellence, and the team needs a man that understands people and cricket in equal measure.

Virat Kohli has an opportunity to shape the destiny of Indian cricket

Virat Kohli will wear the crown with eagerness, perhaps fitting too for a young man with immense potential. But as his cricket shows, he is still an abrasive man who is not beyond the influence of impulse. His shot selection and other on-field indulgences have held a mirror to that.

We need to take a long-term view, and the transition to a new captain offers Indian cricket just that opportunity. It will be a great service to the game if the BCCI can see merit in appointing men such as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid as mentors to Kohli.

Their rich experience as leaders and good understanding of modern day cricket will enable them to offer valuable insights to Kohli. Irrespective of his talent, there is no question that the new captain can use some lessons in leadership. After all, even the great Sachin Tendulkar could not find the answers needed to offer leadership.

The good thing is the fact that Kohli, just 26, could be shaped into a leader of men with a clear five-to-seven-year reign. That is time enough to shape and form a team with a certain character, whether it plays at home or overseas.

For many years now, India has been a formidable force under home conditions only to turn turtle as soon as they land overseas. This is an important conundrum that needs to be addressed to strengthen the tradition of cricket in India. And with Kohli we have that opportunity, provided we are willing to invest in mentorship and lessons for the young man.

Kohli too ought to understand that while he is a master cricketer, he does have miles to go before he can consider himself the complete leader. A man like Ganguly could help Kohli develop a grand vision for his team while also teaching him the nuances of standing by the men that make the team. And in Dravid, Kohli will find a man who has a refined understanding of the value of temperament and the means to develop it.

Kohli will need all that and more as he learns to deal with the absurdities that surround our cricket on and off the field.