World Cup 2019: Are Virat Kohli's choices finally reaping dividends?
Only time will decide whether Virat Kohli turns out to be a great captain for India. But few people can question Kohli for his leadership abilities. He certainly possesses most of the important attributes of a leader, such as innovating, prompt decision making and backing his teammates.
Kohli has proved that he is a good choice for India's Test captaincy after leading India to at least one victory in all Test series India has played since his appointment as a full-time captain in June 2015. India have been the No. 1 Test team for a large part of his tenure and he has led the team to great milestones, with the country's maiden Test series victory in Australia topping the list.
But many were shocked when MS Dhoni decided to resign from the position of India's limited overs skipper in January 2017. Dhoni was not really having a bad time, and had led India to multiple tournament victories in 2016. However, Kohli gladly took to the job of leading India in all the three formats.
While Kohli won most of the tournaments in this phase, he was criticized for his decisions even as India ended as runners-up at the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. He was on a break when Indian won the Nidahas Trophy and the Asia Cup in 2018, and had to bear the brunt of the critics when India conceded the five-match ODI home series to Australia just before the World Cup, even after winning the first two matches.
Kohli was also criticized for backing the wrong players, contrary to the case of Dhoni - whose decisions would usually pay off well and earn him loads of praise. But if there is one man who deserves some praise in building the current Indian team, Kohli is a good contender.
Before India's limited overs tour of Sri Lanka in 2017, Virat Kohli said that he would not mind losing a few matches as India were looking to find the right combination for the 2019 World Cup. He decided to swap the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, and it paid off. The two spinners led India to series victories not only in the subcontinent, but in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia as well.
Kohli was one of the first Indian captains to back his seamers more than the spinners. His continuous support to the pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah throughout 2018 helped them break multiple Test records for bowling trios in Test match cricket.
Test selections aside, his persistence with the latter two helped India build a strong fast bowling attack for the World Cup.
Kohli also faced flak for backing Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul despite multiple failures at the highest level. In fact, his backing of Dhoni despite a disastrous 2018 also resulted in severe criticism. Pandya and Rahul's temporary suspension around the end of last year did not help much either. But two back to back ODI series victories against Australia and New Zealand right at the start of this year seemed to change things.
India found another utility player in the form of Vijay Shankar, who was panned by critics after his poor showing during the 2018 Nidahas Trophy. Kohli backed him even after moderate showings during the New Zealand tour, and Shankar has responded well thereafter.
The team management including Kohli are now being praised for having gone into the World Cup with a balanced squad and good back-up options. Even with two injuries in the middle of the group stage, the team has managed to find good replacements to fulfill important roles for the team.
Kohli tends to back his instincts more than expert opinions and current form. Whether it is Dhoni, Rahul, Pandya or even Kuldeep Yadav for that matter, they know that the captain is by their side, and that is one of the reasons for their good returns of late.
It is great fortune to have your unconventional choices respond instantly. But if a captain backs players even after low phases, it is the duty of the players to live up to their captain's expectations. The fact that most Indian players are performing right now should surely win Kohli at least as many points as the players themselves.