Of all the fantastic memories Virat Kohli has provided us so far, the one that stands out for me is when he stood up for his vision and gave a resounding “no” to Anil Kumble’s appointment as the chief coach. He faced severe backlash for that stand, some calling him the prodigal son of BCCI while others objecting to his unabashed demeanor, even calling it very un-Indian. It took most of us a lot longer to realize that Virat was every bit Indian, just that we were representing an older template while he was making a new one.
The older template saw Ganguly withdrawing his argument and allowing Chappell to call the shots. Much had changed in the decade in between and what Virat did was a reflection of that change. While naysayers secretly wished for his downfall and kept criticizing his decision, Virat kept working in the direction he had chosen and the results were for everyone to see.
Psychologist Bruce Tuckman’s model for team evolution has these four stages; forming, storming, norming and performing.
Kohli’s rise through the ranks was based on solid individual contributions and an unmatched determination for improvement. So when there was time to fill the void in leadership zone, Virat taking the opportunity in forming his team was obvious and inevitable.
Disruption is a natural outcome when two strong personalities come together. Kohli standing up for his chosen direction was a classic example of the storming stage. Kumble with his old school, hard-taskmaster coaching style stood no chance against a bulldozing Kohli seeking independence to carry out his plans.
Moving on, while MS Dhoni was comfortable with diversity, blending different playing styles under his tactical smartness, Kohli insisted on uniform standards. Improved fitness and the insistence of Yo-Yo test was an example of norming and the dramatic turnaround was for everyone to see.
Only after churning through these phases that the team started performing and it did rather well. I started watching cricket in the early nineties and there is no question that the current era has been by far the most satisfying one for Indian cricket. From the whiners of the Azhar era, through the resurgent Ganguly days and the aspirational Dhoni period, Virat Kohli’s era is that of winners. Virat may lack the finesse, the strategic vision and the tactical acumen of the aforementioned captains (in that order!?) but what he had in abundance was the desire to win and do things to achieve that victory!
In 2006, Anil Kumble and his men truly were the only team which played in the true spirit of the game, but his team lost the series. A decade later, in 2018 and in 2020 Virat Kohli’s men did what no other team was able to do before. While Kumble fought fire with fire, Kohli instead splashed ice cold water on the fiery Aussies. He skipped the niceties, kept emotions aside and opted to end the Aussie dominance with stone cold determination. That I believe was a statement good enough to settle all debates pertaining to his leadership. Oh and some may argue that it was Rahane who lead the team last time, it was still Kohli’s team that won.
However, now it seems the season is changing and Kohli has to move into the last phase, that of adjourning. How gracefully he does that, time will tell.
Rahul Dravid taking over as the chief coach is a big change and we will have to wait and observe how things unfold. Cricket has always been a captain’s game, unlike football where the coach/manager drives the team. For the first time I sense that change coming into cricket. Given the complexity involved in the business as compared to what it was two decades back, a professional touch is required to iron out the wrinkles in the organization and who better than Dravid to overlook the transition. Let us hope that he carries the team through the stages and we get to enjoy another era of satisfying cricket. Over to you Jammy.
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