India faces the skipper issue

Is India suited for 3 captain theory?

Indian cricket is in a state of turmoil given the early exit from the World cup. Though India won 4 out of the 5 matches they played, the team has come under the scanner with many people claiming that the team has lost its aura and if Virat is out early, the team is going to lose inevitably; much like the concept we had in place years ago when a diminutive champion was leading our charge.

In this extremely volatile scenario, many people want the man-in-form to lead the side out of trouble. But let me remind you that an extremely capable batsman does not necessarily have to be a good skipper and Sachin is a prime example of that. But one cannot ignore the fact Virat already has the experience of captaining the U-19 side and the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a few games. So he might be a good choice for captaincy after all.

Dhoni, on the other hand has been receiving a lot of flak for the lacklustre performance of the Indian team.

However, people should accept the fact that one can lead a horse to the water, but cannot make it drink. That has been the case with Dhoni. He has made mistakes, but having non-performing seniors in the side has not been of much help to him. He cannot take responsibility for them. The seniors should take responsibilities for their failures and come up with either good performances or should be brave enough to drop themselves, since the BCCI aren’t doing anything on this issue.

Dhoni should also look at his captaincy career and decide a course of action soon enough. He has been under a lot of pressure lately and that is showing in his game and decision-making. Perhaps he should think about dropping captaincy in one format so that he can have some pressure taken off. Once he decides that, the next question would be that of a suitable replacement.

There are two names doing the rounds: Virat for ODIs and Raina for T20s. Both of them are excellent in the respective formats. Virat has been the backbone for the ODI team for quite some time now, while Raina has been an effective player in the T20 version. Virat certainly deserves more responsibility as he has matured a lot since the “finger raising” incident. Raina, meanwhile, has been a constant feature in the playing eleven for some time now and has been on the radar of the selectors for captaincy since he was given a chance to captain the side in a tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri lanka a couple of years ago, and also in last year’s ODI series in West Indies. Although he had mixed results, it seemed like he was enjoying the new role and was sharp on the field while making decisions.

But captaining a national team, that too a team like India, is a very difficult task. It’s not only about field setups and bowling changes. It’s about bearing the brunt of pressure every time your team fails. Virat and Raina are young and they needn’t bear this kind of responsibility so early. Moreover, there might be internal politics in the dressing room from the seniors, which might emotionally affect their performances. They might tend to give in to those pressures and might eventually find themselves out of form and out of the team.

There should be a change in captaincy since Dhoni needs some well deserved peace. But things should be taken one step at a time. Maybe Virat could take over from Dhoni for the T20 format first. He should get accustomed to this role and understand its nuances. He can learn from MSD and can eventually take over in the other two formats. But for now, I feel that there is no need for a change in captaincy for Tests and ODI’s. Dhoni can lead the team at least till the tour of South Africa and things can be decided once the tour is completed.

The team should stick together and show its spirit now and should not let down their captain, the man who won them two World Cups and many other tournaments. Drastic changes will only affect the team’s performance. Having three different captains for the three formats might be working for some countries, but we need to unite under a single captain. The T20 captain can be changed and experimented if need be.

To sum up, I would like to quote this phrase – “Too many cooks spoil the broth”

We should stick with one captain and hope that things will turn around soon.