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Virat Kohli: a great batsmen and a not-so-great captain, like Sachin Tendulkar?

  • Virat Kohli is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world.
  • But like the master blaster Sachin, is he an inefficient captain?
  • His test match captaincy is far too formulaic and was exposed in overseas tours such as England, Australia and South Africa.
Virat Kohli a great batsmen and a not so great captain like Sachin Tendulkar

Virat Kohli is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world. The rate at which he is breaking cricket records, it will not come as a surprise if he surpasses cricket greats such as Sachin Tendulkar and Viv Richards soon. But like the master blaster Sachin, is he an inefficient captain?

 

He's probably not the worst captain. We’ve had plenty worse, but he's probably not the brightest or the best.

One can refer to the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan or the ongoing Tour of South Africa for proof of his mediocrity when it comes to captaincy.

His field changes are ordinary. Dhoni always had the best fielders in the best positions. A prime example of this is the T20 World Cup match against Bangladesh. Jadeja replaced Dhawan in the mid wicket position immediately after Mushfiqur was dismissed and he judged the ball correctly to take a brilliant catch. Kohli has poor fielders like Kedhar Jadhav(God knows why he's even on the team) patrolling the boundaries.

Kohli’s bowling “changes” are predictable. Kohli “over-bowls” a lot of bowlers and doesn’t get the same kind of energy on the field that Dhoni used to command when India got a crucial breakthrough.

His test match captaincy is far too formulaic and was exposed in overseas tours such as England, Australia and South Africa. Dhoni had to deal with a test team in transition which led to a string of embarrassing overseas Test match defeats. This team is a bit more settled.

Overall, T20 batting culture is impacting India’s batting, which has been exposed in the South Africa Tour so far. Indian batsmen seem to have forgotten that they have 90 overs to bat in a day and not 30. No doubt, Kohli is a great batsman, but as a captain, he is perhaps just average. But the problem is India doesn’t have any other player who can play all three formats with the same consistency and split captaincy will not work in India. 

Virat Kohli a great batsmen and a not so great captain like Sachin Tendulkar

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