The Captaincy conundrum

‘A captain is as good as a team’ is a platitude that loses weight when a team repeatedly fails to win a tournament even after making it to the qualifiers five times. No matter how strong a team is, it is the captain who channelizes his resources and puts them to best use. The Mumbai Indians team serves as the best example of how important the role of a skipper is when it comes to winning the Cup. Since the inception of IPL, the Mumbai-based franchise has bought the players, both foreign and domestic, who are counted among the best in the trade. That makes MI one of the most formidable teams in the IPL. That is why they have been thought to be the contenders for winning the IPL, every season. So near yet so agonizingly far, has been MI’s tale every passing year and things look even more complex this time around.

With all the star power, what the team still has not managed is a captain who can convert the expensive artillery into an effective explosive unit that has the potential to stun and numb the rest. In Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai Indians had a reluctant captain and in Harbhajan Singh, a leader who neither had any leadership qualities nor the charisma to lead the side by example.

Now it is Ricky Ponting at the helm and chances look even bleaker this time – not just of winning the title, but making it to the qualifiers, something they have been doing consistently in the last five years. This time they seem to have made the best bet, as it appeared on paper and going by the formidable credentials that Ponting has – being one of the best players and captains the world of cricket has ever seen. But still, the dream of IPL title looks a distant dream. For the man leading MI, whatever his recent form or his past records may say, is the Alexander of the cricketing world, the man who failed to conquer the Indian subcontinent. Browsing his records would have given the owners the idea, but maybe they thought it right to overlook it in an effort to make two legends, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, bat together. With Ponting in the MI team, we got to see some beyond-imagination scenes: Harbhajan Singh and Ponting embracing each other in sheer joy, the two modern cricket legends opening the innings for the same team and Ricky Ponting leading a subcontinent side. These were a few cherish able moments amidst MI’s worst performance in all the IPLs combined.

Through with six games under Ponting’s captaincy, MI has lost three and won three. The skipper is fresh from an excellent domestic performance in Australia and a fairly good show at the Big Bash League, but has so far failed to impress both with his willow and his captaincy in the IPL. A daunting task lies ahead of him and if he fails, the tag of Alexander ‘The Great’ would best suit him. Like this great warrior who could not conquer India – his armies got so demoralized after fighting the fierce tribes of the Punjab that they simply refused to fight – Ponting, too, seems to be suffering from the same fate.

Given his poor form so far in the IPL 6, Ricky Ponting decided to stand down for Rohit Sharma. The stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma brought MI a much needed win, but his mettle as skipper will be tested in the coming matches, if Ponting stays back. Rohit Sharma does not look a natural leader, so how he will come off as captain will be interesting to see. Only time will tell if he is the Mr. Right for the Mumbai Indians and leads them to win the IPL 6.