Right since his international debut as a 19-year-old, Virat Kohli was touted by many as India’s next captain. Almost seven years after his Under-19 World Cup triumph in Malaysia, Kohli got to live the dream when he was handed India’s Test captaincy full time. Whereas for Hashim Amla, he too might have been surprised when he was named the South Africa’s Test captain after Graeme Smith retired last year. The spotlight was always on AB de Villiers but Amla stole the show. Kohli and Amla are two contrasting personas but yet share many similarities. And their leadership style will play a role in determining the outcome of the four-Test Freedom series — one of the most anticipated clashes of the year. Athithi devo bhavo, so let’s start with the visitors.
Hashim Amla: A gifted batsman and a calm likable bloke, which is what you would associate Amla with. Though he surprised all with his resurgence in international cricket but with the skills he possessed he was destined to make it big. Otherwise, Amla doesn’t come across as a man of surprises but when he handed the ball to part-timer Dean Elgar ahead of specialist leg-spinner Imran Tahir on Day One of the Mohali Test between India and South Africa, it turned out to be a masterstroke. Elgar paid the faith by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha in his first four overs, and ended with a career best of 4 for 22. SCORECARD: India vs South Africa, 1st Test at Mohali
With India bowled out for 201, South Africa are better placed at the moment. They are 28 for 2 with captain Amla at the crease. If the Proteas can pull off a win here it would be Amla’s biggest triumph in as Proteas’ skipper. Already captain of the No.1 Test side, a win in India will strengthen his reputation as a leader. READ: India vs South Africa 2015: Four members of visitors’ squad to watch out for in upcoming Tests
The captain: In a side comprising of superstars like Smith, de Villiers, Shaun Pollock, Herschelle Gibbs, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and even Faf du Plessis, Amla never came across as someone who was a leader of men or even someone who was interested in the role. His ascend to the throne has been interesting. A quality batsman, who played selfless cricket over the years, he probably got the hot seat due to selectors experimenting of having different captains for all the three formats. There were reports that de Villiers didn’t want too much of pressure and Amla was made the captain to share the workload. However, when de Villiers was snubbed, he was quoted as saying, “I will not beat around the bush. I’m disappointed that I’m not the captain. Everyone has dreams and ambitions and hopes they will become reality but I accept the situation and will not let it come between me and Hashim.”
Amla had the cushion of playing alongside an in-form Smith and Kallis, and even now continues to do so with steady support from de Villiers and du Plessis. As a batsman, he forms the crux of the side and captaincy hasn’t affected him so far. In May 2014, South Africa had lost their No.1 Test ranking and less than two months later, in Amla’s first assignment the Proteas won the title back as they beat Sri Lanka at home 1-0 (2 Tests). Mind you, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were playing and the spin attack included Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis.
It was a dream start for Amla with a win at Galle and they somehow managed to save the Colombo Test to lift the trophy. The West Indies series at home came next and it was a cakewalk. Amla’s men were tested in Bangladesh before rain played spoilsport and now here he is with the daunting challenge of facing India at home. READ: Hashim Amla becomes fastest cricketer to 6,000 ODI runs, beats Virat Kohli’s record
After being named the captain, Amla said, “It is always a c ollective effort. There is no single person who should be taking the credit. Every single person has a huge part to play. I will be picking people’s brains, guys in the team and guys outside the team.” He seems to be doing it right and it hasn’t impacted his batting so far.
Amla’s captaincy record (before Mohali Test against India)
|
Series |
M |
W |
L |
D |
T |
Series Result |
| In Sri Lanka |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Won 1-0 |
| In Zimbabwe |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Won 1-0 |
| vs West Indies (at home) |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Won 3-0 |
| In Bangladesh |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Draw 0-0 |
| Total |
8 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
Amla has dealt well with the retirements of Kallis, Smith and Boucher, and has marshalled the young guns like Stiaan van Zyl, Temba Bavuma, KagisoRabada and Simon Harmer, quite well. It’s a rebuilding phase but what also helps is the presence of seniors like de Villiers, Steyn, du Plessis and Morne Morkel.
| HashimAmla |
M |
R |
Ave |
HS |
100s |
50s |
| Overall |
85 |
6770 |
52.48 |
311* |
23 |
28 |
| As Captain |
8 |
556 |
69.50 |
208 |
2 |
1 |
Amla, so far has followed a proven success method as the team delivered results for him. Though it’s too early to judge Amla’s tactical acumen, by his own admission is going through a learning curve at the moment and the Elgar decision of Thursday proved to be a brilliant move. With two other national captains alongside — de Villiers and du Plessis—Amla’s job further eases out as they keep chipping with ideas.
Virat Kohli: Brash, aggressive and brilliant, Kohli is nothing like his counterpart Amla and predecessor MS Dhoni. Kohli and Amla enjoy a healthy competition in One-Day cricket where the former notches up a ‘fastest-to’ record and latter breaks it. When it comes to Test cricket Amla at the moment is miles ahead. That’s bound to be as Amla is over five and half years older to Kohli, and has over a decade-long experience.
Unlike Amla, Kohli was always viewed as the ‘next-captain’ but ironically he hasn’t enjoyed results like Amla. Instead of blaming him, ine has to look at the way India have played Test cricket in the last four years, and sadly Kohli’s entire career has coincided in the said timeframe. Kohli’s Test career began when greats like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid were at the twilight of their career. He only ascended the throne because Dhoni too called it quits from the longer format. READ: Happy Birthday, Virat Kohli: What sets the Delhi dasher apart
At just 27, with only 37 Tests under his belt, he finds himself as one of the senior-most members of the side. Added to it, he is the backbone of the side’s batting and handles the super pressure job of captaining India. Burden however is not something that stresses him out. In fact, he enjoys and relishes challenges. His batting numbers (prior to the ongoing series) as a Test captain definitely suggest so. In fact, he is the only captain after Sunil Gavaskar and Alastair Cook to notch up four hundreds in his first four Tests as captain.
| ViratKohli |
M |
R |
Ave |
HS |
100s |
50s |
| Overall |
37 |
2794 |
45.06 |
169 |
11 |
11 |
| As Captain |
6 |
696 |
63.27 |
147 |
4 |
1 |
Leading India in its first Test at home in two years and first one since the retirement of Tendulkar, Dhoni, Zaheer and Sehwag, all he has is a young side at disposal and he seems to be stamping his impression over it. Kohli is full of surprises as a captain and doesn’t believe in safe measures. He brings out his aggressive attitude in his leadership as well. In his first Test as captain at Adelaide, he picked a rookie leg-spinner Karn Sharma ahead of an experienced Ravichandran Ashwin. The decision did backfire but all he wanted was to go in with an extra attacking option. He backs himself and prefers to play five specialist bowlers. He knows picking 20 wickets is key to winning a Test.
On Thursday, he had his critics sharpening their knives when he promoted Amit Mishra ahead of all-rounder Ashwin in the batting line-up. Under Kohli, India have had three No.3 batsmen and he doesn’t mind experimenting till he finds a settled line-up. Kohli doesn’t believe in sticking to a pattern and as mentioned earlier, he relishes challenges. His methods seem to be paying dividends as under him India won a series in Sri Lanka for the first time in over two decades and in doing so they registered their first away series win in over four years. READ: Happy Birthday, Virat Kohli: Top 10 innings of India’s stalwart
A natural leader, Kohli had almost won the Adelaide Test on his own and had rain not played a spoilsport in Bangladesh, he would have won another. Even the first Test India lost in Sri Lanka was an easy win converted to defeat thanks to mindless batting.
Kohli’s captaincy record (before Mohali Test against India)
|
Series |
M |
W |
L |
D |
T |
Series Result |
| In Australia |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Lost |
| In Bangladesh |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Draw 0-0 |
| In Sri Lanka |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Won 2-1 |
| Total |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Lot at stake: While Kohli will look forward to continue India’s legacy of being dominant at home, Amla marshalling the No.1 Test side will look to do the unthinkable of beating India at home and repeating Hansie Cronje’s feat of 2000. Both the sides have plenty of young players and are going through a rebuilding phase — more so for India. How the relatively young Test captains lead their respective sides will shape their captaincy legacy and of course Amla’s expertise with handling spin and Kohli’s dominance with the willow is what their respective sides will bank on.
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer , strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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