MS Dhoni and Kane Williamson: Cut from the same cloth
Sometimes, winning takes the focus away from the important things.
As Shane Watson bullied his way around the Hyderabad bowlers, the camera repeatedly panned to one man, anticipating his next move. It was the final. His side was being whacked all over the park. Surely, he needs to throw his cap at the ground in frustration?
Kane Williamson could not have been bothered less. It was the same thing every time - a quiet shake of the head, a walk over to the bowler and then back to his position at mid-off. It was almost like watching someone else.
Growing up watching MS Dhoni, it was weird. Especially when you had seen how Ganguly went about things. How Ponting went about things. Their methods seem to work. Aggression worked. Fear worked. Why would anyone want to be calm?
The change in his mannerisms when he became captain had the subtlety of his helicopter shot - the long hair was dropped in favor of a more professional hair-cut, the jubilant celebrations of victory gave way to quiet grins of satisfaction, and the carefree approach to batting turned cautious.
Dhoni was not completely devoid of emotions though. I remember him punching himself in the face after scoring 16 off the last over at Dharamsala to take CSK into the semis. I remember his jumps of joy after winning the Champions Trophy in England.
It got rare though.
These moments had to be earned, and winning a one-off routine match didn't matter. You could see his mind was always at work. What would happen in the next over? And the next match? So on, and so forth.
Williamson's change, on the other hand, has been far less noticeable. He didn't lose his locks to become what he is today. His blonde hair and brazen smiles have been with him forever. What has changed, however, is his approach to the game.
While Dhoni went from rock-star to a rock in the middle order, Williamson has gone from someone who stuck to his game to someone who became what his team needed. He has gone from someone who knows how to bat to someone who knows how to bat and when.
Williamson's technique is still how he started - calm and classy. But, this IPL has shown that Williamson is not some dinosaur who doesn't know how to adapt, but that he is capable of hitting the big ones when most necessary.
735 runs do not come from edges and luck. 735 runs do not come without a sound understanding of the basics of batting. 735 runs are the proof of evidence to everyone who spoke in hushed voices that the Kiwi will never shine in T20s.
It is in captaincy that the similarities get even eerier. Like Dhoni, Williamson has a taste for the unconventional when it comes to major decisions. Like Dhoni, Williamson backs his bowlers.
In Qualifier-2, Williamson went back to Carlos Brathwaite to bowl the last over, despite the West Indian being the one who was picked apart during their loss against CSK in Qualifier-1. But this time, he got his field placements right, and two wickets fell in the last over getting caught by Rashid Khan at the edge of the boundary.
Yet another example of how good Williamson understands his bowlers happened during the second Qualifier. With Andre Russel batting, Williamson turned to Rashid Khan and got his field-placement absolutely spot on.
In the 3rd ball of the 14th over, Williamson takes his time and moves a fielder close to Russel in a catching position on the leg side. The pressure turned on, Russel swings hard towards the offside, and it results in a thick edge and a simple catch at slip.
There is something that Zaheer Khan pointed out during his analysis of Kane - how he gets his fielders in position during the DRS reviews and ready to go when the decision goes against them. That way, the batsman has little time to get back into the game. It is these little things that make Kane a great captain.
Once SRH got routed in the final, the focus went away from them and at CSK. Suddenly, SRH were a bad bowling side. Suddenly, they were not good enough. Suddenly, Kane Williamson wasn't the best captain this IPL.
But the thing is, Kane probably doesn't care. What matters are the trophies, and everything else is your mind working out until your next big thing.
Among the big 4 at the moment, Williamson looks to be the shrewdest as a captain. Chances are, we will see him as much more than a batsman capable of carrying an innings on his own. Who is even going to complain?