Cricket

Cricket is the only major team sport where the captain doesn’t sport an armband. It’s also the only sport where having (capt) against one’s name entails greater responsibility than merely turning up for the spin of coin and deciding whether to attack or receive, and which is the favoured end at the start of a contest. Then again, there is captaincy, and there is leadership. Captaincy loosely translates to being on top of the game cricket-wise, in terms of understanding the conditions and the opposition, working out strategies, zeroing in on field placements, making bowling changes, sometimes revisiting the batting order to address the demands of the situation. Leadership is more far-arching, encompassing various non-sporting elements including but not limited to calmness under pressure, the propensity to lift the spirits of when things go south, and motivational and man-management skills which recognise that there is no one size that fits all. Captaincy and leadership can’t, and shouldn’t, be mutually exclusive, but not all captains make good leaders. There are plenty of ‘fair-weather’ skippers whose outlook is bright and sunny when everything pans out according to plan, but who slip into lackadaisical indifference when plans come unstuck for one reason or the other. To be on top of one’s leadership game when doing the front-running is natural and uncomplicated; it’s adversity that tests the true mettle of a leader because it’s in a crisis that the rest look up to you for inspiration and encouragement. Perfect amalgam Before IPL 2024, few had pigeon-holed Shreyas Iyer as the perfect amalgam of captaincy nous and leadership skills and yet here he is now, only the eighth skipper in the tournament’s 17-year existence to lift the trophy. Shreyas ran an excellent campaign; there will be whispers that he was only doing the bidding of the team mentor (Gautam Gambhir) and the head coach (Chandrakant Pandit) and there will be an element of truth to that. After all, especially in T20 cricket, the coach becomes cricket’s equivalent of a footballing manager whose lot it is to draw up game-plans and alternative game-plans. The fast pace at which the action unfolds sometimes calls for a dispassionate, outsider view and that’s what the back-room staff sitting on the sidelines often provides, but no matter what, the buck stops with the captain. Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI Some coaches, like Ashish Nehra, are firm believers in sending out explicit instructions, which not even a first-time skipper like Shubman Gill would have enjoyed. We are talking about international players, not 15- or 17-year-old kids who might require hand-holding in the nascent stages of their captaincy journey. There is something to be said for constant outside interference and suggestions/tips/orders that might be in direct conflict with the designated captain’s thinking, but that’s the direction in which T20 cricket, especially, might head going forward, what with data and analytics becoming as integral a tool in preparation as range-hitting and adding variations to one’s bowling repertoire. Shreyas impressed with his composure and his poise under pressure, though truth to tell, Kolkata Knight Riders was seldom put under serious sustained pressure during most of IPL 2024. KKR lost just three of 14 matches – two of their fixtures were abandoned without a ball being bowled – and were an extraordinary force in the final week of the competition when they schooled Sunrisers Hyderabad twice in six nights. It might be tempting to point out that, given the resources at his disposal, Shreyas didn’t have the most challenging of tasks. After all, he had a gun opening combine in the blazing duo of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, a charged-up No. 3 in Venkatesh Iyer, and a versatile, skilled, balanced bowling group with Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy at the forefront. But how often have we not seen a team packed to the gills with proven performers come unstuck in the heat of battle? How can captaincy not be a factor when a team runs as dominant a campaign as KKR did, brushing aside all-comers with the confidence and assurance of an outfit that knows that when it is purring along, it is well-nigh invincible? Shreyas and Pat Cummins, a first-time IPL captain with Sunrisers Hyderabad, caught the eye the most and not necessarily because their teams finished 1-2. But unlike his KKR counterpart, Cummins is no stranger to captaincy, or leadership, having led Australia to the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup titles in the last 12 months. That being said, leading a franchise brings vastly magnified and varied challenges compared to captaining a national side. By his own admission, Cummins didn’t know anything at the start of the tournament about many of the players that comprised the SRH family. It is to his great credit that he walked the extra mile to not just get to know their names and put faces to those names, but also to get to know them in the real sense in the limited time available, thereby nurturing a climate of trust and faith that manifested itself in exciting, exhilarating cricket. Magnificent accomplishment SRH had finished bottom of the pile last season, to finish runners-up 12 months on is a magnificent accomplishment that Cummins can, and must, be justifiably proud of. Daniel Vettori, the head coach, complemented rather than competed with him, the perfect recipe for success. CSK’s Dhoni and Ruturaj before the IPL match against Punjab Kings | Photo Credit: MOORTHY RV Of the other first-time skippers, Ruturaj Gaikwad stood out for his individualism and for not being fazed at stepping into the giant shoes vacated by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. If he was intimidated by Dhoni’s presence, Ruturaj did a great job of concealing it. He did seek out the legend for suggestions and ideas, obviously, but he didn’t crave for his approval or approbation. He sometimes had the ‘temerity’ to overlook Dhoni’s tips, but not out of spite or because he wanted to prove a point. Ruturaj might…

Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir with BCCI secretary Jay Shah. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak The deadline for applying for the post of Indian men’s cricket team chief coach ended on Monday but both the BCCI and the top name in its wishlist, Gautam Gambhir chose to keep mum on the development. After guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL trophy on May 26, it is but natural that Gambhir’s name is getting more momentum. While both interested parties haven’t said anything on record, the BCCI, it seems, doesn’t have too many quality options available at the moment. It is understood that no notable foreign name has applied for the post, especially after BCCI secretary Jay Shah made it clear that the Board is looking at someone who has risen through the ranks and knows the domestic structure. It could be safely said that the BCCI’s primary target was VVS Laxman, the National Cricket Academy head, but the stylish Hyderabadi seems not interested in a full time position which requires him to available for 10 months a year. “The deadline is fine, but the BCCI brass wouldn’t mind taking some more time before reaching a decision. Right now, the team will be busy with World T20 for the better part of the month of June. After that seniors will be rested from tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe where any of the NCA-based senior coaches can accompany the team. So what’s the hurry,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Also, KKR principal owner Shah Rukh Khan shares a deep bond with Gambhir and it is not easy to leave an IPL team which has been a part of identity for the former India opener. There’s another aspect that needs to be look into seriously — what senior India players, currently in New York, feel on whether Gambhir can indeed be Rahul Dravid’s replacement.

Pakistan’s Haris Rauf speaks during a press conference, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Monday May 27, 2024, ahead of the T20 cricket match against England on Tuesday. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP) | Photo Credit: BRADLEY COLLYER Pakistan paceman Haris Rauf believes the three months he spent on the sidelines injured with a dislocated shoulder could yet prove a “blessing in disguise” as he gears up for the Twenty20 World Cup. The 30-year-old fast bowler made an encouraging return to competitive cricket, taking 2-34, in the second match of Pakistan’s warm-up series against T20 world champions England in Birmingham on Saturday. “I was injured the last few months but if you believe in yourself, then the layoff can be a blessing in disguise,” he told a pre-match press conference in Cardiff on Monday ahead of the third T20. “Because you have time to recover and reassess your game-plans. I felt good coming back to cricket. When you play for your country, it makes you very proud.” As for the mental and physical strain of returning from injury for a fast bowler, Rauf said: “It’s hard. It’s a struggle during your rehab, and it’s difficult when you come back to maintain that pace and accuracy. But if you believe in yourself, it makes things easier. When I wasn’t in the team and rehabbing, I had a lot of time to think about my game and work on myself. “Thankfully I’m back now, and the World Cup is coming up.” Rauf’s return at Edgbaston could not prevent Pakistan suffering a 23-run defeat by England as they fell 1-0 behind in the four-match series with two to play following a washed-out opener. But Rauf insisted Pakistan, the 2009 T20 world champions, remained in optimistic mood ahead of their opening match at this year’s global showpiece against co-hosts the United States in Dallas on June 6. “When you lose a game it hurts, but as a team, we are confident,” he said. “We feel we can beat any opposition on any day. We’ve done it in the past, too. When you make mistakes you learn and try not to repeat those mistakes. We’re looking to play better in the next few games and make a comeback. “The camp is relaxed. We’re enjoying ourselves. We’re trying to follow our game-plans and execute them well. The results haven’t often been in our favour recently but if you stick to your plans they can sometimes follow.”

England’s Will Jacks. FIle | Photo Credit: Getty Images Will Jacks hopes to put the on-field “coaching” he received from Virat Kohli to good use when England bid to retain their T20 World Cup title next month. Jacks goes into the third game of England’s warm-up series against Pakistan having helped propel the hosts to a 23-run win at Edgbaston on Saturday. The Surrey all-rounder struck a quickfire 37 in what proved to be a decisive stand with captain Jos Buttler as England went 1-0 up in the rain-hit four-match series ahead of Tuesday’s game at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens. It was another example of Jacks’ power hitting after he recently struck an unbeaten century off just 41 balls — including 28 runs from one Rashid Khan over — as Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down 200 to beat Gujarat Titans in a high-pressure situation, with India star batsman Kohli looking on from the other end. “The big thing with the IPL is that every game is such an occasion, the crowd, the atmosphere,” Jacks told reporters on Monday, just over a week from England’s World Cup opener against Scotland in Barbados. “Every game you feel like you’ve got to step up and that’s similar to international cricket.” As for batting with Kohli, the 25-year-old added: “He’s a very good role model. The way he approaches all the training and every aspect of the game off the field, his intensity, everything he does is a 100 percent attention. “He’s done it for such a long time and I can appreciate that as a young guy who often doesn’t want to do the hard yards, but you see him doing it and want to copy that.” ‘Pacing the game’ Jacks added: “When we were batting together, he was coaching me through there. I learned some valuable things about chasing in that innings and pacing the game, which was really helpful. “I was really proud of the way I stayed in the partnership, didn’t throw it away.” Now Jacks, whose England career currently consists of a mere two Tests, seven one-day internationals and 12 T20s, is looking forward to a major global tournament. “Playing in a World Cup is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid. I’m really excited to do it,” he said. “It’s getting closer now and we’re building in the right direction.” Jacks labelled his England T20 record of 218 runs at 18.16 a “mixed bag”, although his cause has not been helped by switching between opening the innings and batting at three. “I’ve probably opened half my games and batted number three in the other half,” he said. “It’s no lie that I’m new to batting at three, I’m learning on the job.” He added: “I’ve been getting starts every game and it’s about how do I change those into match-winning scores. That’s more of a mindset thing. It doesn’t matter what I’m averaging: if the team’s winning, then it’s good.”

Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Mitchell Starc. | Photo Credit: ANI After a slow start to the season, Mitchell Starc hit top gear in the climactic phase of the IPL, returning match-winning performances in both the Qualifier 1 and final to help Kolkata Knight Riders clinch its third title. The 34-year-old, who has not played many T20s in the last few years, spoke about taking time to find his rhythm and delivering on the big stage. “I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last few years. So, it was about trying to find that rhythm of the format, and staying ahead of batters,” said Starc. Elaborating on his work with bowling coach B. Arun, someone he knew from their time at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the left-arm pacer said: “It wasn’t technical. It was probably a bit more tactical; there were suggestions for trying different things. Certainly, for batters I hadn’t seen or knew much about, I was going to him [Arun] or Shreyas [Iyer] or GG [Gautam Gambhir] with that sort of thing.” “I’m on the more experienced side. So, it’s not a technical thing. Arun might suggest things here or there Glad to have made an impact when it mattered the most,” he added. In a year when batters have taken the game to a new level, with record-high totals, Starc spoke about how the key to success was to stay level-headed. “I think T20 is a great leveller. You can have some good days, and two days later, you can have a shocking day,” said the Australian pace spearhead. Returning to the IPL after nine years, Starc became the costliest buy in the league’s history at ₹24.75 crore, but the speedster said the price tag didn’t bother him. “You don’t need extra motivation. I am here as an overseas [player], and it’s [for] nights like tonight or the last game that I have been picked. I mean, there’s been jokes throughout, and there’s been friendly banter about price tags and what not. It doesn’t bother me too much. I think the pressure of being an overseas player or price tag, you expect that coming to the best domestic league in the world. It’s our job to perform or set an example to younger players.” “I am closer to the end of my career than the start. One format may drop off, there’s a long time before the next ODI World Cup, and whether that format continues for me or not, it may open doors for more franchise cricket.”