Virat Kohli is a young man, climbing towards the mountain of greatness. He is, however, at the base camp. He is leading India's Asia Cup campaign in Bangladesh. He is more than a stand-in captain for an injured and tired and defeated Mahendra Singh Dhoni. At 25, Kohli is mastering the art of batting and learning the politics of leadership. He is the one man that Indian cricket should bet on. For that BCCI should take a bold and an honest call to declare its intent that Kohli is the man for the future. One can argue that there is still time to decide who should lead India in England during the five-match Test series (first time since 1959) and five match ODI series in July-September. But now is the time for BCCI to show faith in Kohli.
Asia Cup is important for India, a team that is on a losing streak, and it is more important for Kohli, who has more at stake than anyone else in the current squad.
Let's be honest. Kohli wants to lead India. And if India does not win Asia Cup — against all familiar enemies — and goes down to Pakistan in the March 2 group encounter, he will lose chances of leading India in England. All that N Srinivasan needs to cement Dhoni's place as Indian captain is a faltering step by the rival. Kohli is on trial in Dhaka.
There is a near consensus among former cricketers that Dhoni has been given enough chances to perform abroad as skipper but failed miserably. Some have put forward the absurd theory that Dhoni is a good captain at home (see, he has won many Tests in India, thrashed Australia, humbled the West Indies, etc.) but a poor leader abroad. Pray, is that jet lag? If someone is a good strategist in Chennai weather, does he lose it in New Zealand because he is in a cooler clime and a different time zone?
If you are willing to set aside the punditry, captaincy is all about luck. As Napoleon asked "is he lucky?" is all that matters. The best captains are those who have lady luck as his 12th woman. The best illustration is Dhoni's career. In the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan in 2007, how could anyone justify Dhoni asking Joginder Sharma bowling the final over? In not keeping an in-form Irfan Pathan for the crucial over Dhoni had erred as a captain. It would have been all over had Sreesanth spilled the catch when Misbah-ul-Haq miscued. Dhoni's captaincy career would have finished there, even before it had begun.
But Dhoni the skipper has survived through many such bizarre decisions and in the process has been hailed as a super cool genius. May be genius is not climate-proof then. It is important for Srinivasan to realise that luck has deserted his Super King. Or has she only taken an injury-break?
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