He is tempestuous, feisty, abrasive, rude. He is a poor leader. He lacks the nous to have tactical wins. He is a slave driver. He needs yes men. He lacks finesse. He has not led India to any world cup wins. He fails in the big matches.
And, the really poor and personal ones- the only Sharma to deliver during the Australian tour would be Anushka.
The criticism Kohli faces is relentless, brutal and unforgiving. And, unfortunate.
In Australia, the captaincy of the Men’s cricket team is considered the second most important job, after that of the Prime Minister.
In India, the case is not very different.
But, with the difference – while the Prime Minister has a party to support him, an entire social media / media machinery to sell his ideas and troll the opposition, has a term of five years, has the power to change laws, has the luxury of finding scapegoats, the Indian cricket captain has none.
He is a lone man waging battles for India on the field and shielding his team, his family from the social media critics outside.
While it might be the second most important job in India, it is definitely the toughest.
Many captains have learnt it the hard way. India’s most prolific batsman ever – Sachin, could not take the pressure it brought and resigned.
It becomes tougher when you are Virat, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
There is not much gap between what his mind processes and the contours of his face, his body language or his language. He is transparency personified.
While harsh criticism has defined him thus, there is a lot more that he brings / has brought to the table.
He is the best batsman India has produced this century. As a complete batting package, he is miles ahead of every other batsman in this era.
After Sachin, apart from Rohit Sharma, he is the only batsman the crowds would pay to watch.
Millions of youngsters in India and abroad emulate his cover drive and his controlled aggression.
He is the master of the chase.
Critics will still carp. They will say – a great batsman need not necessarily make a great captain.
But, they don’t read the stats. His win percentage is among the best, actually better than the next best Indian.
Circa 2014, when he became captain, we just had one pace bowler- Ishant. Today, there is a fearsome pace battery at the Indian Captain’s disposal. Only due to Virat Kohli sowing the seed and expressly indicating that bowlers win matches – especially abroad. So much so that, despite no Bhuvanesh , no Ishant, no Shami, we still could beat Australia.
He has taken Indian fitness levels to a completely different league. The Yo Yo test means Indians last longer and stronger than before. You don’t see a single tired player despite grueling schedules.
Yes, Rahane led India well. But, it is important to note that it was Kohli who persisted with him despite so many failures.
The irony of our criticism cannot be more tragic when one reads that Kohli is the only player to have made it to the ICC Men’s ODI and Test team of the decade. ICC also made him the captain of its dream team.
It is shocking that someone whom ICC considers as the player of the decade gets such acrimonious criticism because of his personality.
Time the Indian critics become more magnanimous towards it best player. Time to appreciate he too is human and that he needs support.
