Cricket Xtra: Changing captain can be for the best in IPL

Ajit Vijaykumar 05:46 02/05/2016
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  • Taking over: Kings XI Punjab took the captaincy reins from David Miller (r) and handed it to Murali Vijay (l).

    T20 cricket and captaincy are fickle partners. While a leader can impact the game greatly in other forms of cricket, his area of influence is limited due to the vast number of variables in T20s. And unless you are an exemplary limited overs leader like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it is very difficult for captains to carve a niche for themselves.

    In IPL, the pressure on captains is even more magnified as franchises hold the players directly accountable for their actions and decisions. With so much money involved, questions are bound to be asked.

    It should come as no surprise that former India captain Sourav Ganguly said that leading India was a much simpler task compared to captaining an IPL side as he doesn’t have to justify his each and every decision.

    But it is what it is and sometimes, the players entrusted with the job are unable to bear the load. And on such occasions, the franchises do think of a possible change of guard in an attempt to revive the campaign.

    The abruptness of a change of leadership in the middle of the tournament might look unappealing but when the schedule is as tight as it is in the IPL, teams don’t have time to wait for things to turn around. So they can be forgiven for attempting quick fix solutions.

    This season, Kings XI Punjab entered the tournament on the fragile shoulders of David Miller, who hardly had any leadership experience even at domestic level. The team didn’t have a lot of star power to start with and Miller sadly suffered a dip in his own batting form.

    It has added up to a poor first half of the edition for Kings XI Punjab with the team languishing at the bottom of the table.

    The Punjab management had to do something and Miller was removed from the job. Murali Vijay, who also doesn’t have a great captaincy pedigree, was handed the reins and he delivered instantly, helping the team pull off a stunning win over high-flying Gujarat Lions.

    This doesn’t constitute as a turnaround but it can be the start of something good.

    Changing captains midway isn’t a new concept in the IPL. The most famous instance of a change of guards during the tournament came in the 2013 edition when Mumbai Indians struggled to hit the straps.

    Captain Ricky Ponting was having a torrid time with the bat, scoring just 52 runs from five innings. Good sense prevailed and Ponting not only handed the leadership to Rohit Sharma, he vacated his spot in the team as well to make way for another player.

    Sharma proved to be a superb choice as he captained Mumbai to their maiden IPL title, leading the way with more than 500 runs.

    With a foreign captain, IPL franchises struggle to juggle their foreign recruits as only three spots are open for rotation, instead of four. And unless the captain is in superb form, he is a bit more likely to be replaced than a local skipper.

    However, the opposite has happened too. Two years back, Shikhar Dhawan was the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad and had a tough start to the seventh edition of the tournament, leading the team to four wins from 10 matches.

    Darren Sammy was brought in as skipper for the remained of that campaign. It didn’t result in a drastic change in fortunes for Hyderabad but gave a glimpse into the mindset of teams for whom no player is indispensable.

    Tough road ahead

    While the idea of day-night Test matches is gaining popularity among cricket boards, the players seem to be singing a different tune.

    First the South Africans said they didn’t receive favourable reviews from the Australians regarding day-night Tests and now the Aussies are saying that one day-night Test in the summer is more than enough and having any more is inadvisable.

    Cricket boards can’t be faulted for looking to monetise every ounce of international cricket and the idea of day-night Test is just too lucrative. However, they must keep one thing in mind, that it is the players who have to do their job on the field and while they might have to be nudged in an effort to get things started, care must be taken not to overdo it.

    Day-night Tests are challenging in themselves as it involves four to five consecutive late night finishes. That is something cricketers, even in the IPL era, are not used to. If more pink ball Tests are played back-to-back, it can mess with the body clock of the players and their output might reduce.

    Players and administrators should take things forward one step at a time. The last thing we need is a potentially game-changing endeavour like day-night Tests to be fail simply because of over zealousness.

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