Cricket is not an individual sport. It is a sport where close to 15 players are involved. In some cases, there are more than 15 players. This essentially means that there are 15 different personalities with various ambitions and expectations. There is bound to be personality clash among the players. More so in a team like India which has representation from different cultures, different languages and different regions. There are bound to be differences. One such difference is between Kohli and Rohit and reports have emerged that it was Ravi Shastri who pacified them. Also, let me talk about Smith’s captaincy ambition. Kohli and Rohit differences and Smith’s ambition.
Great teams too have players who are at loggerheads at eachother
Team sport in world history is full of differences amongst the team members. Afterall, even in a family of 4, there are lot of opinions that is not the same. Sport is played under immense pressure. There are bound to be arguments and in some cases even serious fights. Not the physical one ofcourse. The famous Australian cricket team of the 1990s and early 2000s had multiple gifted players. They were all strong and had strong viewpoints. It is a well known fact that Shane Warne and Gilchrist loathed each other.
The same was the case between Steve Waugh and Warne. Warne never rated the coach at that time Buchannan. Nonetheless, none of these mattered on the field. They fought as one team and all these players won lots of games for Australia. That team was known as one of the two all time great team because of these players who fought amongst themselves.
Rohit and Kohli
There are bound to be different school of thought when players of high calibre play in the same team. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are two such players. Kohli will easily rank amongst the best Indian batsman whereas Rohit Sharma is known the world over for his destructive brilliance in the limited overs format. Both are of similar age and have played the game for more than 10 years. They have rich and varied experience having played in every country. It is only natural that they may not agree all the time. This must be expected. Rohit Sharma is seen as a natural leader who has won lot of titles albeit the IPL. It is also a fact that he won the only tournament that he captained. Nidahas Trophy.
On the otherhand, Kohli is yet to win a multi-nation tournament whereas he has won lot of bilateral games and series. If they do not see each other in the eye, so be it. They are not required to. So long as their rivalry does not affect the performance on the field or by virtue of being the captain, if Rohit is deliberately not given enough opportunities, that is when a middle ground must be found.
Ravi Shastri helped
“Apart from winning two big series, that’s been the biggest gain inside the Team India dressing room. A great deal of personal bonding has happened in recent weeks and they’re more in sync now than ever with regards to their cricket, the team, their responsibilities and the upcoming challenges. They understand now, more than ever, that the team will only benefit if they find themselves on the same page. This has been the biggest takeaway in the last four months.”
“All the chatter from the outside was causing too much bitterness and all the hearsay was making things worse. It’s been the story of Indian cricket for far too long – of vested interests time and again taking advantage of rivalries between players. Like all professionals, Virat and Rohit too would have their disagreements from time to time. But until recently, they never thought of sitting down and talking it out with the kind of clarity that is now visible,” the source added.
Ravi Shastri being the coach of the team naturally has a reason to pacify things between Rohit and Kohli. He did his part but should have said these things in public is something that is debatable. Rohit’s and Kohli’s will have their disagreements but over the last few years, it did not affect their performance or the team’s performance.
The Indian public must stop worrying whether the team is united and whether they talk to each other and go out together, eat together etc. What the public must be worried about is whether the performance of the team is of the highest quality and let the players be players.
Steve Smith wants to become the captain again
If not for the Newlands sandpapergate scandal, Steve Smith would still have been the captain of the Australian team. Whether he would have been better than Tim Paine, that is something we would have never known. The one huge blunder have cost him his place in the team for 12 months and his captaincy too.
“I’ve certainly had a lot of time to think about it and I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again I would be keen,”
Smith is well within his rights to aspire to become the captain again but does he really deserve to be the captain? I do agree that once a cheat is not always a cheat but what Smith did was something beyond reproachment. If he becomes the captain again, I am sure the English crowds and the South African crowds will never allow him to forget what he did. The captain of the Australian team being called a cheat in every ground is something the Australian public cannot digest.
Langer does not think so
Luckily better sense seems to have prevailed. Langer has all but effectively ruled out Smith becoming the captain again. Cummins is encouraged to takeover from Tim Paine now that he has been made the captain of his state. Marnus Labuschagne is also in the frame once Paine decides to move on. With passage of time, Australia will definitely get a few more candidates but Smith must be ruled out.
Other topics related to Kohli can be read here, here, here, here & here
