Kane and the art of death by a thousand cuts

He doesn't take a cudgel to the established belief of success, doesn't conform to the outliers that many might see as cardinal and yet shines through, like a pearl among the pebbles. He is, by all accounts, impervious to the pandemonium that surrounds him, whether he is playing for the Blackcaps at the Bay Oval or for the Orange Army in the soul-sucking heat of Hyderabad.

Serendipitous as the setting to his initiation to cricket might have been, there is nothing particularly revelatory about his approach. It is simple: hang back and make contact at the last possible moment, like a demure dork on a date.

Simplicity itself can be a hard task to master when there are so many wildly contradictory approaches that are seen as the stairway to success. Apprehensions are raised the moment there is a new idea, a new method, that is supposed to be the way to do things.

When ODIs were introduced, they were proclaimed as the harbingers of doom. The batsmen were going to be cast away like sailors who led a mutiny. But that never happened. When T20Is were introduced, they were proclaimed as the whisper of death itself. The batsmen who had a textbook technique were about to be as useful as a mausoleum on the moon. But that never happened.

In the rapidly changing, evolving, modern landscape of cricket, there are few things not in a state of flux. To remain relevant, there is a never-ending desire to make tweaks that will ensure that you aren't consumed by the tidal wave that makes you obsolete.

He isn't so drastically different to watch whether it is in Tests, ODI or T20Is. While there are tweaks, he remains largely the same batsman. One who relies on precision and timing over power.

And yet, he has seemingly found another gear in this year's IPL that has seen him become SRH's leading run-getter and one of only four players to have scored over 400 runs in this year's tournament.

So, how is he so seemingly besotted with batting? Was it just a preternatural gift that is bestowed upon to a select few? Or was it hours of hard work that is finally manifesting itself now? Perhaps the added responsibility of captaincy has taken his game to a gear hitherto unseen. After all, both his ODI and Test numbers are better as captain.

All of them might have some part to play in his incredible form but another vital cog in what makes him so good can be ascertained from what he had to say during last year's IPL when he finally started to repay the faith shown by SRH.

“You're always looking to improve your game and T20 cricket, in particular, has seen players push the barriers of stroke-making. You see players who can do some incredible things that you might not be able to do, and that is part and parcel of the game. You just try to stick to your plans whilst trying to improve and develop by watching other players that are doing things differently and doing them well," he told Sportskeeda in an interview last year.

That constant need for improvement, to be better than everyone else, is a recurring theme with the player who started playing senior cricket at 14, and first-class cricket at 16. That is one of the reasons why a national captain with a Test average of over 50 still goes to play county cricket. That is why he is always keen to expand the shots he can hit.

He is SRH's leading run-getter in IPL 2018

To acknowledge that you cannot do certain things is something few are keen to admit to in elite sport. To admit that you have a flaw is almost unheard of as it somehow makes them inferior, at least in their mind.

While it might be evident to all who observe, very rarely do you see someone admit that they can't do something and go about doing something else that they are better at. Yet, here is a national captain, who openly acknowledges what he can, and cannot, do on a cricket pitch. The honesty is refreshing and also explains why certain situations might be beyond him.

Even in his finest IPL season till date, his strike rate is only a tad over 130. That isn't great but he understands that. He understands his role and executes it to the best of his ability to ensure that his team gets over the line. At times, his lack of power-hitting means that he cannot get them over the line and even then, he would probably be the first to acknowledge that.

An amalgamation of talent, hours of hard work and the unflinching desire to be better and do better, makes him a rare specimen. One who doesn't take a cudgel to the established belief of success, doesn't conform to the outliers that many might see as cardinal, and yet shines through, like a pearl among the pebbles.