Captains In Cricket World Cup- Part 2

Continuing from the first part, let me tell you about other 3 captains and I will through some light on current world cup captains.

Imran Khan:

Imran Khan stands out as a more of a LEADER than Cricketing Captain. He had won the world cup for Pakistan only on his emotion and ability to inspire & bind the team together. Imran had taken retirement from cricket after the world cup of 1987. After that he wanted to make a biggest cancer hospital in Pakistan in the name of his mother, for that he was in need of money. He had no other option to come out of retirement in 1988 to lead the side and gather the money for hospital. He had set a goal of winning world cup of 1992. For 1992 world cup he had handpicked every team member, ignoring the selection committee and told every team member what he expects from an individual. 

He was very disciplined and autocratic as captain. Pakistan won only one match out of their first 5 matches in 1992 world cup. They were almost out of the world cup, but Imran Khan kept telling his team-mates that “We will win this world cup; I need money to build hospital”.  Ramiz Raja, who was part of 1992 world cup team told in an interview that only because of Imran’s influence and inspiration team had possessed such a high spirit and went on to win the world cup. In after match presentation he actually admitted that his obsession with cancer hospital kept him going.

Arjuna Ranatunga:

Arjuna was a person who will stand behind his team members when they need him the most. The way he supported Murali on the tour of Australia in1995 was quite phenomenal. No one before done that in a cricketing history, he had protested against an unfair umpiring decision which was more racial than for cricketing reason. He, along with his team walked out of the ground to support Muralidharan. His firm belief in his players kept the foundation of winning the world cup. 

Arjuna & Coach Dave Whatmore came up with the idea of bringing Jayasuriya up in the order. Jayasuriya was not sure of himself, because he was mainly a bowler who can bat a bit, in fact  in his initial years of cricket he had batted at number 8 or 9. But Arjuna told him that even if he fails at top order, his place in team wouldn’t be harmed. Arjuna’s word had given confidence to Sanath and the rest is history.

Steve Waugh:

The captain, who used to speak very less with his team members, only let his ability and performance set the example for his players. His ability to remain calm in high pressure situation was extra-ordinary. 

In super six league match against South Africa in 1999, the match was must win match to qualify for the semi-final. When Steve came to bat Aussies were struggling while chasing 272 for victory, they had lost 3 wickets for 48 runs. In this demanding situation, this Iceman had produced very determinant knock of 120*. This innings won the game for Australia and also helped them to qualify for the world cup final after the famous tied match in Semi final.

Ricky Pointing:

Ricky is still playing, the only Captain to win 2 consecutive world cup without losing a match. He had the best players in his side to win the world cup for Australia during this era; in 2003 world cup final, he scored very hard hitting hundred which helped Australia to win the world cup against India. He was man of the match in that final. 

Many cricketing greats don’t term him as a great leader like Steve Waugh to which I also agree. But he is very ambitious as a captain; his only obsession is to win matches. He is known for losing temper on a field, and being arrogant sometimes. He has not grown as a leader during his tenure as captain.  After retirement of Hayden, Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne, the down fall had started. He is a good captain but not a great captain.

Who is next?

This time we will have new Cricket Captain who will lift the world cup trophy. Will it be Daniel Vettori or Afridi or M. S. Dhoni or Sangakkara? Among these men, one man will have the glory of his lifetime and he will make his country very proud. So who will be that leader? In my view Vettori don’t have the ability to inspire his team. Shahid Afridi carries tremendous amount of energy around him, and he has led the team successfully in difficult times. Sangakkara looks very compose and man in command when he is leading the team.  Sanga works in a manner and he has his plans ready for a big occasion. The only weakness I see in him is that he doesn’t have a plan B ready in crunch situation.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, known as MSD. He prefers the name Mahi. Neither he has performed with bat in this world cup nor he is best player in Indian Side. But Mahi has the special ability of getting out best from his players. According to him “Captain is just a channel which utilizes his resources to the fullest”. His brain works like super computer on cricketing field, he reads the situation well in advance. He has been termed as Captain Cool by none other than Imran Khan himself. 

Mahi shows no sign of frustration in critical situation. His body language is impeccable for Captain during the tense moment. Mahi always has come up with Plan A  before the match, and he has the Plan B ready if the Plan A fails. Dhoni also has Plan C in mind if plan B don’t work out and this Plan C is having NO PLAN, just keep the patience, and taking the bold decision. The most admirable quality of Mahi according to me is “Even if situation do not favors him, he will NEVER GIVE UP”.  At this moment he looks to me the most deserving LEADER to lift the GLORY.

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