Be it sports, boardroom wars or royal successions; luck and fate are two co-conspirators that decide most leadership battles. Successions aren’t straightforward. Picking a captain isn’t just about presenting the crown to the team’s senior-most, or the top performer. At times, it’s a punt, a calculated risk or a compromise call dictated by circumstances. The winner is usually the one who is in the right place at the right time.
Shubman Gill is what the media loves calling the ‘front-runner’. In case he makes it, this latest churn in Indian cricket brings to mind a similar period of change from the past.
Back in 2009, MS Dhoni was preferred over a quartet of seniors to be India’s captain in whites. Those who missed out were a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience, an authoritative spinner, and a world-class left-arm all-rounder. Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh had legitimate claims but lost the captaincy race to their junior – Dhoni.
It is eerily coincidental that Gill, 24, too is expected to be favoured over other aspirants with a similar profile. Again the ones losing out could be a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience, and a world-class left-arm all-rounder.
Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja – all aged 30-plus and senior to Gill – too have legitimate claims but captaincy debates aren’t always settled by checking figures and cricketing skills.
Indian cricket’s ‘Fab Four’ era had an intimidating star cast. With Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman around, the dressing room door mostly had a ‘no vacancy’ sign.
The next batch of players, despite their talent, laboured to find a place in the playing XI. Those who made it were exceptionally talented but couldn’t dream of being in leadership roles. Zaheer, Sehwag, Harbhajan and Yuvraj had captaincy potential but couldn’t grow as leaders in the shadows of the towering stalwarts.
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Lessons from history
Around the mid-2000s, there was a glimmer of hope for the juniors when Dravid stepped down. That was the time India could have thought of giving the reins to a young captain but the selectors opted for an interim arrangement.
Anil Kumble, in his mid-30s, was made captain. That decision wiped out the leadership aspirations of the next generation. And by the time Kumble quit, the ship had sailed.
Dhoni got the nod and the ‘not-so-Fab Four’ were superseded. Zaheer, Sehwag, Harbhajan and Yuvraj would be remembered as the ‘In-betweeners’ – the bunch that had a long internship but didn’t get the top job. And by the time the Big Four aged, their immediate juniors were past their prime. Fate and luck, the two sly plotters, were laughing.
As recently as last year, Gill wasn’t even a certain starter in the Test team. (BCCI)
The gaze of the selectors had settled on the ‘new sheriff in town’. Dhoni had an aura and charisma. He was a confident individual, not a groupie. He was the new hope and a long-term solution. Exactly the same as Gill.
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It is interesting how time and circumstances change perceptions. As recently as last year, Gill wasn’t even a certain starter in the Test team. After his duck in the second innings of the first Test in Hyderabad against England, there was talk that Gill was on borrowed time. There was chatter that he was just one Test away from being sent back to domestic cricket.
That was February of 2024. It was Captain Rohit’s finest hour in Tests. In-charge of a young team, in Virat Kohli’s absence, nothing suggested that his castle would come down within a year.
Meanwhile, Gill would come roaring back in the series. He would score a hundred in the next Test at Vizag. Back on track, he would be at his stylish best in the final Test of the series at Dharamshala. With his captain at the other end goading and guiding him, Gill would score a majestic hundred. Even Rohit would hit a century.
Everything seemed fine with Indian cricket. Rohit, the father figure, was hand-holding the youngsters. But in a year’s time – which saw a series defeat at home against New Zealand and the away Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss in Australia – the script turned on its head. It is England again next month, away this time, and Rohit has been nudged to retire and Gill is said to be getting the crown.
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Alternatives
But why Gill? Couldn’t the selectors do a Kumble again? Shouldn’t Gill be the captain-in-waiting and be an understudy to Bumrah or Rahul?
There is also the curious case of Rishabh Pant in limbo. Unlike Gill, he has even captained in domestic cricket, and is a vital Test player, a swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman with a far better Test record as a match-winner than Dhoni at the corresponding stage of his career, but he isn’t seen as a leader of men. And Rahul seems to have surged ahead.
With Rohit and Kohli gone and the new WTC cycle about to commence, the decision-makers are keen that Indian cricket takes a fresh guard. Had this situation arisen a few years back, the battle of captaincy would have been between Bumrah and Rahul.
On his return from injury in 2023, Bumrah was named the ODI captain as the seniors were rested. But frequent breakdowns didn’t help his cause. Rahul too was named India’s stand-in Test skipper in 2022 against South Africa. He was the temporary replacement for the injured Rohit. India went on to lose that series. Since then his Test average has been 23.
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Gill too isn’t on a hot streak, he averaged 26 in the last two series that India lost. If selectors are set to take a giant leap of faith, Indian cricket would end up taking a massive generational jump. If that happens, the present day In-Betweeners – again a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience, and a world-class left-arm all-rounder – will miss out. Fate and luck, the two sly plotters, will be laughing again.
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