Sundarrajk's Weblog

With the resignation of M. S. Dhoni, Virat Kohli takes over the mantle of the captaincy of the Indian cricket team. The press has been raving about a new era dawning for the Indian cricket. Virat is seen to bring in the aggression which is missing in most Indian cricketers (Saurav Da could possibly considered to be an exception). This aggression is expected to spurn the team to perform and the opponents to wilt.

While aggression does lead to success to a certain extent, one needs to have a mature head to complement the aggression. Virat comes out as a brat who has tasted success very early in his life. There would be lots of things going on in his head to make him heady. The captaincy will only add to his headiness. Sachin Tendulkar tasted success very early in life too, but he was a level headed person who never seemed to wish to stand out in the crowd. The way he blunted the aggressiveness of Glenn Mc Grath, Shoib Akthar, Shane Warne is a standing testimony to his maturity.

Being aggressive in words and not measured words at that does not help. It only brings a bad taste to the speaker and the person hearing it. It further aggravates the situation. A better way to counter the kind of aggression that the Australians bring in is not just not react to their comments, but also to ignore it as if one does not understand the language. Let the bat and the ball do the talking. It will silence everyone.

Reacting to the taunts of the Australians only disrupts the rhythm of the players which is their ultimate goal. By reacting to their taunts we are showing our weakness. A school bullies like to taunt the ones who are most upset by their taunting, the ones who react most to their taunts become constant targets for the bullies. The Australians are like the school bully. As the other party reacts to their taunts their taunts go up, flustering the opponents and leading them to lose their rhythm.

We have to learn to ignore them and not get flustered. Virat does not seem to have this characteristic. While he is no weakling he is another bully. He tries to pay back the other bullies in kind. This can work as long as one can be sure that one has an upper hand. This may not be true all the time as each team has weaknesses and one will only end up looking like a fool. (Remember Zaheer Khan and the World Cup finals).

While I would wish him all the very best, I doubt if he will turn out to be a good, successful captain. He may end up winning a few matches in India against the weak sides, but it is doubtful if he will notch up any significant wins.