We’ve tracked the rise of Indian chess as a reflection of the rise in India’s economic fortunes. But there’s no better sport to demonstrate that than cricket. The Indian cricket team up until the early noughties (barring the 83 and 85 ODI wins) was notoriously known for capitulating under pressure, suggesting a lack of confidence as individuals as well as as a team. Perhaps beginning with Yuvraj-Kaif led Natwest final win in 2002 with the captain Sourav Ganguly’s iconic topless celebratory picture from the Lord’s balcony, Indian cricket turned a corner. Last week’s dramatic test win in Kanpur against Bangladesh despite losing half the time to rains, showed this swagger has reached new heights. Much like Ganguly then, the captain this time Rohit Sharma, had a huge role to play in this display of an aggressive mindset:
“”When we gathered inside [the dressing room] for a small huddle, Rohit Sharma mentioned that we are going to go hammer and tongs and try and make, you know, 400 runs, probably, in 50 overs,” R Ashwin said after India found a way to win a five-day game in half that time. It involved a lot of risk. It wasn’t going to happen without a collective buy-in, especially from the batters, particularly the out-of-form ones.
…Under a less adventurous captain, with a less willing group of men, facing a better quality of opposition and no pressure of World Test Championship points, India would’ve got in a bit of batting practice and left with a draw.
“Rohit walked out and just tonked the first ball for a six,” Ashwin said. “So when you walk the talk, I think obviously the dressing room doesn’t have any other choice but to follow that same pattern. We had 50 runs out of three overs. There was no looking back after that.”
India has been lucky to have captains who have demonstrated this aggressive leadership:
“India have had many captains that have transformed the way they play. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi yanked them out of defeatism. Kapil Dev won them their first world title. MS Dhoni ended the wait for another one. Sourav Ganguly made being bad look sexy. Rahul Dravid broke the ODI chasing curse. Anil Kumble stood up right against wrong. Virat Kohli triggered a fast-bowling revolution. Rohit might just be outdoing them all because he is cutting right into one of the core values of Indian cricket.”
Rohit Sharma’s leadership goes beyond the mindset to include nurturing the young and the old alike in the team:
“…for Rohit to convince his men to follow him like that, in merely the hope of a result, and for them to do it, is no small thing. It’s been a hallmark of his captaincy, across formats. He helped Kohli reassess the price he puts on his wicket in T20s. He protected Jaiswal, genuinely worried he might jinx the opener during his coming-of-age performances against England. In that same series, when Sarfaraz Khan finally broke into the national team, Rohit spent an entire training session looking after him. He has been rewiring his own generation and encouraging the next one to put the win above all else.”
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