IPL 2018: Kohli is a dominant captain while Williamson is quieter, says New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson
With a majority of international cricket matches on hold, New Zealand's current and longest-serving coach, Mike Hesson, has been spending his free time as a pundit for the ongoing Indian Premier League. The 43-year-old was appointed as the Blackcaps coach in August 2012 and has now spent nearly six years with them.
Hesson, in an interview with Sportskeeda, opened up on how his players have been performing in the tournament so far and what impact the IPL has on the Indian youngsters.
"Best T20 tournament in the world, it has big overseas players, young Indian talents who have an opportunity to shine and the ones who actually get the opportunities are good ones. The conditions vary so you do see players having to adapt their game and style, which is good to see. And obviously playing in front of packed stadiums, huge crowds, so it's a great tournament to be part of," he said of the cash-rich league.
Kiwis in IPL
Hesson's national team captain, Kane Williamson, has been earning plaudits for both his performance with the bat and captaincy skills in this edition of the IPL. On the other hand, his compatriot Trent Boult, has also risen to the challenge the tournament presents and has been a lone warrior for the Delhi Daredevils at times. The duo's international coach was full of praise for them both.
"Kane Williamson (has been the better performer), only just. Trent Boult has been pretty good as well but Kane has held the Sunrisers batting order together. He has won them quite a few games, so he hasn't just made a few scores, he has remained not out in chases and has seen his side over the line and I think his captaincy has been superb," he said.
The NZ coach also explained why one of the most sought-after players in the auction, and someone who was considered a match-winner in T20s until only a month ago - Colin Munro - has failed to shine in the domestic league so far. The opener has scored just 63 runs in five matches, which is the second-lowest tally for a DD player who has played at least five innings. Bowling all-rounder Rahul Tewatia is the only player behind him on the list.
"I think because he has been in and out of the side. It's very difficult to build confidence when you're not sure if you're playing the next game or not. Opening the batting is a role where you have to go out there and you have to be instinctive and you have to be confident.
"If you feel like you're playing for your spot all the time, it's a difficult thing to do. The way he plays, he's always susceptible to the first couple of balls but once he gets past that, he can be destructive. If he has another four or five innings, I think we'll see the best of Colin Munro."
"They're different characters" - Williamson and McCullum as captains
Hesson, since his appointment in the national support staff back in 2012, has overseen the captaincy eras of both Brendon McCullum as well as Williamson. During his conversation with Sportskeeda, the NZ coach stressed on how different both the players are as leaders of the pack and how their personalities shine through their captaincy.
"They're different characters. Brendon is more verbal in terms of his character. He was an exceptional captain, gave confidence to all his players. Williamson is a lot quieter, goes about his business in a methodical way. Both are very different personalities but very good captains."
Kohli's intent or Williamson's composure?
Williamson, one of the four newly-appointed skippers in this edition of the league, has been the most impressive of the lot. SRH have been rolling teams over for fun this year and are through to the playoffs of the tournament, with three matches still in hand. The captain himself has been in red-hot form for the 2016 Champions. In 11 matches, he has scored 493 runs and has six half-centuries to his name as well.
On the contrary, Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a torrid time in the IPL ye again. With only three wins in 10 matches, the Virat Kohli-led team are placed second from last on the points table. Their captain, however, has had fairly decent outings with the bat and has 396 runs in nine matches, one fewer than those played by Williamson.
When quizzed who he would want to have in his team, both as a captain and a batsman, Hesson said, "I'd like both of them in my team. They are very different. Virat is quite a dominant captain, you look at him and can tell that he's the guy in charge. They're both quite proactive. Kane is probably more like 'go up and talk to the bowler and get some feedback and come with the solution' captain whereas Virat likes to dictate the situation more.
"As batsmen, they hit the ball in different areas. Virat in many ways is traditional, he likes to hit the ball through and over the off side, with his amazing wrists. Kane tries and manoeuvre the ball more and gets his body into different positions to access different areas."
Most impressive Indian youngsters
As Hesson had earlier pointed out, every season of the IPL brings with it an opportunity for Indian youngsters to test themselves against the who's who of international cricket. In this chapter of the tournament, the New Zealand coach has been hugely impressed with two budding Indian cricketers.
"Prithvi Shaw has been the best with the bat. I knew he had a reputation coming over here but didn't play the first part of the tournament. Since he has come in, he has been hugely impressive against good bowling. Sure he has some areas to evolve his game, primarily the short stuff but in terms of the way he attacks the new ball, he's a high-quality player.
"From a bowling point of view, it's a tough one. I like Siraj from RCB, he is quick, he has enough variations. But the one thing I like the most is he looks a good athlete, runs in, bowl fast and he has bowled in tough times."