Time to groom a captain out of Virat Kohli

As Dhoni’s dismal away loss streak continues, his deputy has been in the news for all the reasons. removing his alleged affair with a bollywood actress, Virat Kohli has been out of controversy for the past year or so. Considering the reputation that he owned; a foul-mouthed younster with an over-the-top attitude, he has come down a long way, and has made his bat talk to silence his critics, who are finally able to witness the true potential of this Delhite.

In this past year, he has smashed records, captured the very important No.4 spot in ODIs, and established himself as the one of the best batsmen in business, well on par with the likes of Amla, De Villers and many more. Now, only one title awaits him- the captain of Indian Cricket team.

Dhoni is one of the greatest Indian captains ever, without doubt. But his captaincy record overseas, is akin to Roger Federer’s dismal record against his arch nemisis, Rafael Nadal. With every overseas tour, it just becomes worser and worser. His ODI captaincy is good, even in overseas conditions. But it is the test record which strikes a cord. Out of the 22 matches he has captained the team out of India, they have won just 5 matches, with the no of victories in Australia and England still at 0. This is a noticable black mark in a captaincy career akin to that of the greatest of captains.

But more than the form factor, it is the age factor. Dhoni is 33, which is not very old considering the current standards. But his triple role of Captain-Wicketkeeper-Batsman is surely taking his toll. He has been a decent keeper, all right;  but his captaincy and occassionally, batting in tests, has been quite dry. Dhoni’s technique was never suited for tests, and even though he has managed to play important knocks down the order, his contribution has been a bit below par from what one can expect from a No 7 batsman in recent times.

In short, not to complain his excellent batting and captaincy record, it is time for him to give up his captaincy to the youth. Age is catching up with the once-poster boy, and time for Virat Kohli to get the throne, the current poster boy.

Kohli is no muck in captaincy, if that is to bother. An U-19 WC winning captain, he also captains the RCB team in the IPL. So the question arises- is he ready to take up the throne?

Captaincy is something which cannot be completely transfered in one night. The new captain needs time to settle and more importantly, the team must get adjusted to the new captaincy style.

And the time has passed to start grooming a captain for 2015 WC. An opportunity wasted, in reality. Nevertheless, it is not too late. And giving Virat Kohli the captaincy post for the Asia Cup is the best possible move, though it was not the intended outcome. An injured Dhoni possibly was a blessing in disguise for Kohli, who can prove his credentials as a captain-cum-batsman.

It might be unlikely that we might see more of Kohli as captain in the next year, but definitely, irrespective of the results in the upcoming months, Dhoni should hand over the Captaincy. He would not like too much pressure at the end of his career, and even if he keeps the captaincy posts, nothing short of success will be accepted from him by fans and critics, alike.

The Asia Cup might see the start of a new dawn for Indian cricket. With the entire team under the age of 30, this might be the look of the team for the coming 5 years. Now whether they will perform or not, is a answer we will come to know in the coming week.