Similar Fates, Contrasting Styles – A Tale of Two Captains

By: Sandipan Bose

This is a tale of two captains, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, with similar fates and contrasting styles. If Dhoni is know for his cool-headedness, Kohli has just learnt to keep his temper under control.

If Dhoni could come in to the crease and spontaneously whack a cricket ball for an over-boundary, Kohli takes a little time before unleashing his array of strokes.

If India’s limited-overs captain is the best finisher of the game, the Test captain is the best top-order batsman in the world. And yet, their teams aren’t able to get a rousing start to the IPL campaign.

They were on losing sides during Sunday’s double headers – that too from a position of strength. Dhoni of Rising Pune Supergiants isn’t doing anything wrong as the leader, wicket-keeper and a middle-order batsmen.

Despite this, nothing seemed to have worked for his team in the last four games. Either his batsmen were too slow to put up runs or the bowlers were too generous towards their opponent.

The last eight seasons that Dhoni has captained an IPL team, not once has he had such a bad start. There were a few occasional defeats, but Dhoni’s team always got a steady start. His new team fell short of expectations thus far in the tournament.

Even Kohli’s Royal Challenger Bangalore has lost the plot three out of five times. In the past they always got a dream start to the IPL season and were also the main contender each time.

By the time it was time to get down to business in the tournament, the RCB would inevitably run out of steam. However, this year has been quite unusual for the Bangalore men with a real slow start.

Their captain, Kohli, is in the form of his life and scoring runs at will. He doesn’t allow himself to be given out till he decides to throw a wicket.

But his consistent shows haven’t inspired regular wins for his team. This is how you describe the glorious uncertainties of this game.

With also some of the new teams like the Gujarat Lions and the Delhi Daredevils working their way up in the league, both Pune and Bangalore would have to come up with some special performances to boost their position on the points table.

Remember, that this tournament is more than two weeks old. Do wait and watch before making a judgement.