There are few elements in cricket that, no matter which form of the game, remain integral and unchanged. Primary among those is the art of captaincy. It doesn’t come in a set form. Even the great captains have been greats for different reasons. There are those who pull the team by leading from the front, there are those who give their players the right push. There are those who are hard taskmasters, there are those who are the quiet workhorses. There are those who are instinctive, and there are those who get into detailed planning.
There can be no manual to cricket captaincy.
What stands out about the art is the fact that even as the Twenty20 game has become so much more faster than its traditional format, and more experts have joined the support staff, the role of the captain has remained as critical as it ever was. And it stands out from all the other sports across the world, because in no other sport does the captain play such a huge role in strategizing and calling the shots.
Thus, given the nature of cricket captaincy, does it really help having too many captains in the side or letting a less-experienced captain lead a bunch of already established skippers? It is for the Kings XI Punjab to realise this season. In their ranks, they have Darren Sammy and Eoin Morgan – skippers in the 2016 World T20 final – and Hashim Amla, former South Africa captain. However, when they went in search of a new leader, they pinned their hopes on Glenn Maxwell, the maverick Australian all-rounder, who has limited experience in this role at the top level. If his personal batting style is anything to go by, it seems a risky move. But KXIP are desperate to change their fortunes in the 10th season of the Indian Premier League.
With a core group intact, the leadership has changed several times after their brilliant run in the 2014 season. But Maxwell, who has been an integral member of the side since being bought in the 2014 auctions, downplays its effect on the players. “I don’t think it will affect much. The guys have been good,” Maxwell said on Friday (April 7).
He has never officially been on that seat, but he believes that personal leadership and experience of the players will help him have a better time in that role than his predecessors did.
“In all the meetings, the guys have stood up and showed personal leadership,” he said. “The younger guys that we had when we came in have a couple of years of experience now. Young Anureet (Singh), who was too frightened to speak earlier, is now talking about bowling plans in front of international superstars, which is probably a good sign to show maturity from the whole group. I have probably come in at an easier time where the younger guys know their game so well.”
It is a concept that a lot of captains have professed earlier, but it isn’t something that everyone can pull off effectively. With personal leadership comes the problem of dealing with a player who is forever looking for directions. It also involves dealing with those who are comfortable doing as they wish and are not necessarily in sync with the captain’s plans. And who better than Sehwag, KXIP’s coaching head, to justify that theory.
One day ahead of his maiden match as a full-time captain, Maxwell maintains an easy posture in the new role. “I have taken the leadership role in Kings XI in the last couple of seasons,” he said. “In fact, a lot of teams that I have played for, I have played as a leader in T20 competitions around the world. This is the first time I’ll see this (captain’s title) next to my name. But I think I have played that role for a while now.”
For as much as his work will be cut out with the presence of successful former and current national captains, the team’s bowling unit lacks experience. Barring Ishant Sharma, who was a late inclusion in the side, there is minimal international experience among rest of the bowlers. He believes the tall pacer’s experience will help the other bowlers a great deal in becoming better with their art.
“It is a well-rounded side this year, we have got a few more bases covered,” says Maxwell. “We have a bit more seniority in the Indian bowling line-up. We picked up Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma, which I feel are two great additions. Even if they are not playing that game, they are still around the younger guys like Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh. Those guys feed off that international experience. Mohit Sharma also brings in that experience. It only helps our younger bowlers gain some confidence and get some knowledge off those guys.
“They may not be able to understand what I’m saying. I speak too fast or what not, but those guys are able to work with them during training, timeouts, before games or team meeting, they are just brilliant. We now have those (new) guys to be able to pressure on the guys in that position (in the playing XI). It’s a good healthy environment.”
A major part of the reason why the honour was given to Maxwell was because of David Miller’s poor run last season at the helm. But can he be good in a role that he has not assumed on a full-time basis so far? It isn’t like national captaincy. With franchise cricket, there comes additional challenges which some of the successful national captains in the past haven’t been able to stand.
David Warner, in experience and situation similar to that of Maxwell, found great success last year. While there were several factors that worked in Warner’s favour, one among those was his personal form with the bat. He smashed over 900 runs and led from the front. If Maxwell manages to find success anywhere close to what his Australian teammate did with Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL will soon gain a reputation of unearthing new leaders.
