Test of Kohli’s captaincy
GRAEME SMITH believes Virat Kohli may need to soften his approach to his team-mates, if India is to have success away from home.
Smith, who captained South Africa in 108 Tests, wondered whether Kohli was the best long-term option as India’s captain, explaining that Kohli’s “aura” could be intimidating to his team-mates.
“We all know he’s an outstanding player, his intensity really benefits his own personal game, he loves that confrontation, that intensity brings the best out of him,” Smith said yesterday.
“Sometimes as a leader you’ve got to consider how you impact the others in the environment, that’s an area of his leadership that he needs to grow. Often his reaction to situations...that can sometimes impact on your team negatively. We all know how powerful Virat Kohli is in world cricket, in Indian cricket.
“For him, he’s built this aura and for him maybe to find a level where he can connect with all his players, to get to a level where he can get the Indian team to be as successful as he is, that’s something that he, when I watch him, is grappling with.”
Kohli, who’s captained India 34 times, and led them to nine consecutive series wins before they arrived in South Africa, will face a major test of his leadership credentials this year with India also set to tour England and Australia.
Already they’ve failed the first off their three foreign tests this year, by losing the series against the South Africans with one game to spare.
“I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India,” said Smith, who besides playing the most Tests as captain, is also the most successful captain, with 53 victories as skipper.
“At the end of this year, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face the scrutiny from the press – I know he gets that in India – but if you’re away from home and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t if I’d want to burden Virat Kohli with that.”
Given that for now, India don’t appear to have any other options as captain, Smith felt that Kohli, needed a ‘sounding board’ in the side, someone who could occasionally tell him that he was wrong.
“When I look at Virat I think he needs someone who can constructively challenge him and help him grow.
“He has all the capabilities tactically, he knows his own game, he sets the standard in the field for everyone else.
“The way he goes about his work, it’s almost a case of ‘leading by example.’
“There’s his emotional side, he gets really fired up and there’s how that affects other people
“I think if he had a really constructive person in his environment, who could talk to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some different ideas, in a constructive way, not an angry or aggressive way, but make him think, open his eyes to other possibilities, that would make him a really good leader,” said Smith.
Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar agreed that Kohli could do with someone providing a different perspective. “I think he’s a very good leader,” Gavaskar, who captained India in 47 Tests, said.
“Captains are not just thinking about how they captain in the middle, but on match days and off days, they are always thinking how can they take the team forward. And sometimes in that process, with that thinking – ‘how do I take the team forward?’ – you lose sight of simple simple things….as soon as Virat realises that, he will become a better leader.”
The Indian team trained at the Wanderers yesterday, and their coach Ravi Shastri, rather than be disappointed that the series is already decided, sought to accentuate the positives.
“I would rather focus on the 20 wickets we’ve taken, because that has given us a chance in both Tests,” saidi Shastri.
“We had our moments in both Tests where we looked like the no.1 team. When we bowled out South Africa for 130 (at Newlands), when we closed the gap thanks to Virat’s brilliant innings and then had them two down, just 30 runs ahead (in the second Test), we looked like the no.1 team in overseas conditions. Not many teams look half that when they come to India.” TOP SOUTH AFRICAN road cyclist Daryl Impey ranks his maiden World Tour title general classification victory at the Tour Down Under over the weekend as the greatest achievement of his career.
It was a red-letter day for SA cycling, with Nicholas Dlamini being crowned King of the Mountains in his first World Tour race. While the 22-yearold Dlamini’s star is rising, it was the seasoned veteran Impey, who stole the headlines with his victory.
Impey, the first South African to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, surprised with his victory after he went into the race as the final lead-out rider for Mitchelton-SCOTT teammate Caleb Ewan. The South African said the win came as a great relief after he went into the final stage with the same time as Richie Porte.
“Wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France was a magical moment but this is very close to that,” Impey told the Mitchelton-SCOTT team website.
“I worked really hard for this one and especially knowing how important it is to the team and the sponsors. It was a high-pressure race for us, everyone expects a lot so to top it off with a win is very special.”
Impey’s best result before this victory was winning the 2009 Tour of Turkey title, while he also has team time trial silver and bronze medals at the World Championships.
“It is a step up in my career, you get these little stepping stones and you reach bigger milestones and I’ve proved to myself now, as I’ve always had a little bit of self-doubt,” Impey said. “I’ve ridden for guys who have been in this situation and it is a lot easier riding for someone else, so to come in and take the pressure for a change and have a go I am very happy to have been able to do that.
”It’s one of the most special races of the season so I will like to come back next year and wear the number one, you don’t get too many opportunities to do that.”
The two-time Olympian pretty much sealed the victory on the penultimate stage when he finished second to Porte.
Dlamini’s performance was the cherry on top for SA cycling as the promising star from the Capricorn settlement in Muizenberg won the King of the Mountain title in his first World Tour race.
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka signed Dlamini last year to ride for their World Tour team, with the Capetonian rewarding them for the confidence they have shown in him.
“I am delighted to win my first leader’s jersey in my first World Tour race. Going forward I will improve a lot,” Dlamini told the Team Dimension Data website.