What makes a great team – great players or great captains?

Australia decade-long domination on world cricket has ended.

By Anish Zachariah

Australia decade-long domination on world cricket has ended. The decline and fall from being world champions in both Test and One-Day Internationals (ODI) is perceptible, which is also reflected in the latest ICC rankings where it ranks 5^th in both forms of the game.

The Australian domination started in early1999 under Steve Waugh, who then passed on the baton of leadership to Ricky Ponting. The rebuilding process will have to start and, irrespective of the outcome in the World Cup, the unemotional reasoning of the Australian selectors will ensure the end of Ponting as captain.

While the Aussies where enjoying their domination on world cricket, a sleeping giant – in terms of the number of people playing the game and money pumped for it –  woke up with an aggressive captain in Sourav Ganguly. He was followed by Rahul Dravid first. Then Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over – one took charge of the shorter format, while the other led in Tests. Kumble has since retired to put Dhoni in charge in all formats.

That begs the question: What makes a great team – great players or great captains? With the benefit of hindsight, the all-conquering Australian had some of the most brilliant players in the history of the game in legends like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, and Pointing. Except Ponting, the others are all gone.

In sharp contrast, India’s feared names like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Harbhajan, all of whom played against those legendary Australians above, are still very much around for a decade or more. They are backed by excellent players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. All of these still form the backbone of India’s Test or/and ODI team.

So what should we attribute Australia’s dominance: great players or great captains? If one chooses the former, then the fall of Australia and the rise of India can be explained. If one chooses the latter, then the Aussie dominance should not have ended because by no stretch of imagination can Pointing be called a poor captain.

Meanwhile, India’s status as a dominant force in world cricket can only be asserted after its performance in the forthcoming World Cup. Till then India remains one among the many who look to dominate world cricket.

(Anish Zachariah has had his education in Chennai, Oman & Mumbai and in science, arts and presently Masters in Communication & Journalism. His passion for sports is also varied – football, Formula 1, tennis and, of course, cricket)

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