Weekly Sports Newsletter: Rookie captains don’t win IPL titles

The IPL auction has signalled the start of cricket’s silly season. Like always, powerful franchise owners and their employees sat at tables playing God. Wired to the team’s real decision-makers, they wielded the power to make a star feel worthless or turn a virtual nobody into a star.
Along with some inspired strategic calls, the auction would see some debatable choices that would stump pundits and fans alike. Beyond the dodgy impulsive buys, miscalculated risks and questionable inclusions dictated team balance compulsions, there were some big decisions that defied even IPL logic.
Now that the big purses are back in the pocket and the giant shopping bags unpacked, let’s spread out the buys for the all-important second look.
A few captaincy choices set eyes rolling. Let’s take Kolkata Knight Riders first and their call to cut ties with Eoin Morgan. The English player has a case.

🚨 Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, say hello 👋 to the NEW SKIPPER of the #GalaxyOfKnights
অধিনায়ক #ShreyasIyer @ShreyasIyer15 #IPL2022 #KKR #AmiKKR #Cricket pic.twitter.com/veMfzRoPp2
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) February 16, 2022
MS Dhoni and Morgan had similar IPLs last year. The rival captains in the 2021 finals had a modest season with the bat. Dhoni scored 114 runs in 16 games, Morgan had 133 from 17 games.

2022 has shaped differently for the two. Dhoni would get retained CSK for Rs 12 crores while Morgan would go unsold at the auction.

KKR didn’t see Morgan as a skipper any more. Actually, they weren’t even keen to have him in their squad.
Even other franchises that were head-hunting for captains were not impressed the leadership credentials of one of world cricket’s most successful skippers.
One average season with the bat was enough for IPL to turn its back on the England captain with a formidable record. From being the man who transformed England’s white-ball cricket, led them to the World Cup title and even played a key role in KKR’s turnaround last year, Morgan is now a IPL-reject.
naming the young Shreyas Iyer as Morgan’s replacement, KKR was making the common IPL make – they were undermining the role of an astute leader in T20 cricket.
Take a look at the l of IPL winning captains. Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchr and David Warner. These are hardened pros with adequate experience to lead top international sides in high-profile games. Now turn to the roster of the players named to lead teams this season. Standing out like a sore thumb are three names – KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Iyer. These are players with extraordinary cricketing skills but they haven’t yet shown tactical nuance, talent to think on their feet or inspire players to perform at their optimum.
It is their knack of spotting talent and potential that makes Dhoni and Sharma the most-winning IPL captains. Over the years, several cricketers have performed way beyond their potential when the two have hand-held them.

Both Dhoni and Sharma think for their bowlers, set fields for them, snub them on field, praise them to the sky away from it. In short, they make them better. There have been several cases of match-winners turning also-rans when they move away from the shadow of men like Dhoni, Sharma and even Gambhir.
Most franchise owners think captaincy can be out-sourced to fortified coaching thinktanks. That’s flawed thinking.

Those who believe that teams can be remote-controlled from the dugout are limited in their understanding of T20 cricket. The most dynamic of formats, T20 requires captains to think on their feet and be very flexible with their plans.
Water boys carrying coaches’ messages to captains is a bird-brained plan. This is a format where captains in an instant need to decide if they want to attack or defend.

Just watch Dhoni make finer adjustments to his field after every ball. A coach in the dug out can’t be busting his guts and shouting instructions all through the game.
In games played on the 22 yards, the main decision-makers can’t be 70 to 80 yards away.
Iyer while leading Delhi Capitals didn’t come across as a captain who was always in control on things. Whenever he was faced with a dilemma, he would be seen stealing a glance at the dugout.

After Iyer got injured, Pant got the reins. He had the enthusiasm but lacked poise. With time he might mature into an inspirational captain but in the high-stakes game called IPL, one doesn’t have the luxury of learning on the job.
With an eye on headlining team gigs with Team India frontmen, franchises have fallen for a predictable marketing punt. But it undermines the cricketing seriousness of a professional league, unarguably the world’s biggest, when rookie captains are seen as mascots, not master strategs.

In the past, the former RCB captain Virat Kohli would place himself on the boundary rope during crunch situations. This would be followed Ashish Nehra, former RCB coach, sneaking next to him and the two would be in animated conversations.
At this auction, Nehra sat on the Gujarat Titans table. He was part of the think tank that was forming a team that would play under the newly-appointed captain Hardik Pandya.
At his first press conference as Titans captain, Pandya said that he did have captaincy experience since he once led a U-16 state team.

No debating Indian cricket’s robust junior programme and depth of talent at grass-roots but age-group cricket can’t prepare you to lead an IPL side. From the look of things, Nehra would have to patrol the boundary again and do the thinking on Pandya’s behalf.
IPL will complete 15 years this year but one obvious lesson remains unlearnt. No rookie captain has ever won the title.
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Sandeep DwivediNational Sports EditorThe Indian Express