IND v AUS 2020: Virat Kohli's moment of reckoning with Indian limited-overs captaincy

18th June, 2017, Kennington Oval. India and Pakistan clashed swords in the summit clash of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, with the former looking to exert its dominance over its neighbours. Unfortunately, though, nothing of the sort transpired as Pakistan trampled the Men In Blue en route a commanding victory and of course, a triumph that sent shockwaves throughout the cricketing fraternity.

A couple of years later, on those very shores, India found themselves embroiled in another titanic knock-out fixture, this time against New Zealand and at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Yet, under the gaze of a billion eyeballs, the Indian cricket team wilted, meaning that the Black Caps – the perennial underdogs, punched well above their weight to knock out their more illustrious rivals.

Though there were plenty of aspects that went wrong in the aforementioned encounters, one reckons that once the dust had settled, questions began to be asked of the captain, as is always the case with gut-wrenching defeats in global tournaments.

Since 2017, Virat Kohli has been entrusted with arguably the biggest responsibility in world cricket – that of captaining India across all formats.

For large swathes, the lad from Delhi has performed admirably, considering that the Men In Blue have also conquered Australia in a Test series during that period. However, despite Virat Kohli boasting an excellent record and/or win percentage, the questions regarding his adaptability and ability to guide India through clutch limited-overs knock-out games remains under a cloud.

Virat Kohli's record as Test captain is pretty admirable

For starters, Virat Kohli seems a highly instinctive captain and one that isn’t too afraid to juggle his resources. In fact, he does so quite frequently and if one were to analyse it completely, it perhaps enables him to keep the opponent guessing in the longest format, considering the game tends to meander unless grabbed by the scruff of its neck.

In limited overs cricket though, that could prove to be an impediment, especially when taking into account that there is a plethora of situations where over-thinking could complicate matters – something in sync with everyday life.

As far as examples are concerned, the most recent came in the 2020 IPL against the Kings XI Punjab. With Virat Kohli shepherding his RCB pack and with the Mohali-based outfit under the pump, the Indian skipper decided to opt for a string of left-handers to tackle KXIP’s leg-spinning duo, ahead of a certain AB de Villiers.

While that ploy has been used by countless captains over the years, it certainly smacked of recklessness, not just because one of the greatest modern-day batsmen lay in wait, but also because it ceded the initiative.

Post that reverse, RCB never seemed to recover and lost FIVE on the bounce as they bowed out of IPL 2020, despite looking well-equipped to last the distance.

Rohit Sharma pulled his way to another IPL triumph as captain in 2020 (Credits: Scroll)

On the other hand, Virat Kohli’s prospective replacement as captain aka Rohit Sharma, has often showcased the tactical flexibility and acumen to outwit his contemporaries.

A prime example of the above was in final of IPL 2020, when Rohit Sharma decided to drop Rahul Chahar for Jayant Yadav – a move that was made in light of the number of left-handers the Delhi Capitals possessed. And, Jayant Yadav delivered as he ripped out Shikhar Dhawan during the Power Play.

While both might seem similar tricks, considering they were relied upon to counter the opposition’s strengths, there is a huge difference, when looking at the respective junctures at which those gambits were unfurled. Virat Kohli’s experiment seemed unnecessary and cluttered; Rohit Sharma’s strategy seemed unflustered and invaluable.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have slightly different styles of captaincy (Credits: DNA India)

Apart from that, and more tellingly, Virat Kohli just can’t seem to get the best out of the players at his disposal, perhaps embodying the proverb that nothing grows under a banyan tree. To put things into context, Virat Kohli is one of India’s greatest ever sportspersons, meaning that he has obviously set pretty high standards for himself and of course, his team.

However, that could also lead to players not feeling the requisite freedom to express themselves, for the yardstick will always be the one applied to Virat Kohli.

Throughout his tenure as the captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli has, to an extent, not managed to nurture as many upcoming cricketers. The likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and even KL Rahul, have often been a victim of the ever-revolving selection door, meaning that they’ve been rid of the continuity to establish a foothold in the international arena.

KL Rahul's roles and batting positions have been shuffled too often

Virat Kohli has a poor record as captain in the IPL

Similarly, Virat Kohli hasn’t been able to create a decent enough core at his IPL franchise. While the composition of an IPL outfit is certainly not a marker for captaincy, it is another facet to be looked at, considering that Virat Kohli has been retained by RCB since the inception of the competition. And, it is pretty ludicrous to believe that Virat Kohli doesn’t have a say, with regards to the players that come through the door.

Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, has seemed a leader that has accorded the youngsters at Mumbai Indians the adequate space to flourish. Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav have all made their MI bow under Rohit Sharma’s stewardship, with each playing a vital role in the franchise’s latest IPL triumph. As for Jasprit Bumrah, well, the pacer has played a majority of his IPL career with Rohit Sharma as captain.

Moreover, in a country like India, where a billion people aspire to don the famous blue strip, one reckons it might be more prudent to have a skipper at the helm who helps those talents come through the ranks and cast themselves as potential match-winning options for the nation. Again, something that favours Rohit Sharma, considering his captaincy pedigree.

Rohit Sharma seems to hold the edge over Virat Kohli, as far as white-ball captaincy is concerned

Furthermore, Rohit Sharma, albeit via the IPL, has displayed that he boasts the necessary tools to take his players a notch higher, especially in crunch knock-out games – a kryptonite that hasn’t just plagued the Indian cricket team recently but also Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit.

Having said that though, it could be a tad unwise to entirely do away with Virat Kohli as captain of the Indian cricket team, at least in white-ball cricket. To put things into perspective, he boasts the third highest win percentage (71.83%) among players to have captained more than 50 ODIs and has fared rather well in T20Is as well (22 wins in 37 matches).

However, Virat Kohli has somehow always lost the games that have mattered – contests such as the one against Pakistan at The Oval in 2017 and the one against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 2019.

Rohit Sharma, in his only final as India captain, got the better of Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in 2018. And, that is without mentioning the five IPL finals he has won with the Mumbai Indians.

Thus, with Rohit Sharma coincidentally left out of the squad for the white-ball rubbers against Australia, one reckons that the time is ripe for Virat Kohli to quash any talks about his leadership style, for the clamours to install Rohit Sharma at the helm have reached a crescendo lately.

Virat Kohli has a massive ODI and T20I series ahead of him

In fact, if India were to indeed traverse on the split-captaincy path and hand Rohit Sharma the reins, they might have to do it post the series Down Under, considering that the next T20 World Cup is scheduled for October-November 2021, with the next ICC Cricket World Cup slated for 2023. Incidentally, both take place in India, meaning that nothing but a conquest would suffice.

And though there seem to be plenty of caveats while adopting a split-captaincy approach, it could be something that transforms the Indian cricket team from underachievers at major tournaments to an all-conquering irresistible machine.

Success might not be guaranteed with a change in captain, however, to make things pristinely clear. But it will offer India an option that envisions a sojourn into a promised land – one where India’s stumbles at crucial stages will no longer be a talking point.

After all, that encounter against Pakistan was supposed to mark a new dawn for Indian cricket. Yet, with each passing ICC tournament, they’ve seemed inclined to rummage deeper and in more futile fashion. An immense number of tweaks could cure those ailments, or on the flip side, no switches altogether could do the trick as well.

But then again, what fun is Indian cricket, without arriving at such crossroads, time after time?