The Virat Kohli captaincy presided over a golden era in Indian cricket.
In ODIs, he won a stupendous 65 out of 95 matches.
Under his captaincy, Team India won a record 37 out of 61 matches.
Despite this, he failed to lift a major trophy ICC trophy.
Even in the IPL, his captaincy record can be termed as a failure.
Despite captaining RCB for many years, his team came short at critical junctures.
Honestly, there are no excuses for these.
Because Virat was one of the most powerful skippers ever in Indian cricket.
Remember, he has the clout to get even a legend like Anil Kumble removed as head coach.
Virat and the Kumble saga
Firstly, it’s important to understand who we are talking about.
Anil Kumble is the greatest bowler India has ever produced. A real legend.
He is the third-highest wicket taker of all time in Test cricket.
The right-arm leg spinner represented India for 18 years and enjoyed a fantastic playing career before retiring in 2008.
When Kumble decided to step down, this is the statement he sent out.
“I was informed for the first time yesterday by the BCCI that the Captain had reservations with my ‘style’ and about my continuing as the Head Coach.
I was surprised since I have always respected the role boundaries between Captain and Coach.
Though the BCCI attempted to resolve the misunderstandings between the Captain and me, it was apparent that the partnership was untenable, and I therefore believe it is best for me to move on.”
Like the man himself, the statement was diplomatic and gracious.
But it fooled nobody.
It is clear that the relationship between Kumble and Kohli broke down.
Later, we heard of sources saying that Kohli regularly sent messages to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri regarding his unhappiness with Kumble.
Apparently, there were email correspondence between Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji and CoA chief Vinod Rai where she says, “Virat Kohli frequently sent SMSs to the CEO on which you acted and there was a change in the coach”.
This is truly unprecedented.
Admittedly, there may have been things about Kumble’s general style of coaching that Kohli disliked.
Perhaps the fact that Kumble directly called up several younger players in addition to returning senior players did not go down well with Kohli.
It was also an open secret that Kohli preferred the presence of Ravi Shastri in the changing room.
Essentially, Shastri was known for having an easy going approach to coaching which is in direct contrast to the strict style of Kumble.
It’s also possible that Kohli had already made up his mind that he was not going to like working under Kumble, even before he started in the job.
Whatever, the truth is, it revealed the Kohli’s real power in Indian cricket.
It also showed that Kohli is also willing to put his power to the ultimate test.
Virat Kohli captaincy through his personality analysis
The Kumble incident showed that even the board recognized Kohli’s power.
It’s no surprise that along with Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli formed a powerful cabal whose writ was unchallenged.
As a result, he could influence the selection committee completely.
So, it’s only fair that while he got the credit for the team’s performance, he needs to accept the blame for the team’s non-performance in key tournaments.
Now let’s analyze the cricketing style and persona of Virat, to understand his relative strengths and weaknesses.
For this, I enlisted the help of Mr. Avik Nadkarni, a reputed psychologist based in London.
Avik has worked extensively with football players in the English Premier League and the Championship.
He has also consulted for top Multi-national organizations across the world.
His specialty is understanding the motivations and improving the performance of sports personalities.
His analysis is truly fascinating.
As per Avik, Kohli is an Alpha Male personality type. This means he has a big ego.
His ego feeds his performances on the cricket field. And vice versa.
Every good cricket performance feeds into the ego, making it bigger and bigger.
Ego comes with its own by-product, for example, a know-it-all attitude.
In the last few years, Virat Kohli was guilty of several tactical blunders in key matches.
These blunders took place during the key moments of the big matches.
These include decisions like who to bowl, the field placing and more importantly, which players to pick.
Had Kohli got these decisions right, India might have gone on to win the tournament.
But owing to the wrong decisions, India crashed out despite being the favourites.
Why did this happen?
The answer lies in the mindset that ‘I know it all’.Cricket is a team game and a consultative approach works best especially before taking key decisions.
The Indian team has several sharp cricketing minds like Rohit Sharma, Rahane, Pujara and Ashwin.
However, they were not even approached for their opinions.
Even if the captain takes the final decision, it’s important to talk to the guys who have a contrarian view point as it can reveal a new perspective.
If the captain is open to opposing viewpoints, it gives the players an incentive to express their opinions freely.
However, if the leader, be it in a team or an organization, projects a ‘I-know-it-all’ persona, the others clam up and the team suffers.
Too much intensity
The story of the Virat Kohli captaincy was all about aggression.
After all, Kohli is an aggressive individual.
It’s part of who he is and what made him a success.
But a captain’s key role is to get the best out of other players.
The best captains and best managers raise the level of their team.
Improving others requires an acute understanding of human psychology.
Broadly, there are 2 kinds of sportsmen.
Some require a kick in the butt, which means they require to be constantly challenged.
And some require an arm around their shoulder. This type of player will blossom only when they feel the trust of the captain.
The key to successful leadership is to understand who needs what kind of motivation.
This means, sometimes the captain has to breathe fire, and sometimes, he needs to relax and create an environment of tranquility.
Virat’s captaincy style doesn’t reflect a understanding of this key principle.
The in-your-face, let’s-do-it kind of gung-ho exhortations don’t bring out the best in everyone.
Rather, they can create a kind of nervous tension that inhibits performance.
The choice of players
A careful analysis of Kohli’s favourite picks reveals something fascinating.
It’s obvious that the players he likes more than the others are Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant.
Personality wise, they are a bit like Virat.
Loud, aggressive and brash.
They like wearing good clothes and being in the spotlight.
Typically, alpha males have strong likes and dislikes.
They prefer people who mirror their sense of confidence.
The danger is, if a captain is not aware of this inherent bias, he will pick players based on factors, other than pure cricketing wisdom.
To put in bluntly, he might back the wrong horse.
What’s more, he might reject players who don’t conform to his ideas of a perfect man.
In other words, subconsciously, his perfect team will contain himself and his ten clones.
This creates a culture where there are unsaid norms of behavior that everyone is expected to follow.
Avik made an interesting observation that set me thinking.
He said — Have you noticed the number of players who started sporting Virat Kohli-style beards in the team?
KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, Pant, Siraj, Bumrah, Pujara…I’m sure there are more.
Indeed, it’s true.
And the ones who didn’t, like the clean-shaven Ashwin, got dropped repeatedly even after delivering world-class performances!
I was stunned to hear this analysis.
Never had I looked at a cricket player through the lens of a psychologist and whether I agreed with all of Avik’s points or not, it was surely thought-provoking.
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Vicky Mandal is a Goa-based professional sports writer and indulges in cricket betting in his spare time
