Every sport needs a leader who can take his team to the other side of the finishing line. In cricket, it becomes more evident to have a skipper who with his skills and knack of the game can accomplish the mission for the team.
Since 1844 when first International cricket was played, the game of cricket has changed so much over the years. The advent of ODI and T20 format have made cricket more intense and competitive and the need for different captains in different format was felt.
What is Multiple Captain Policy?
The concept of the Multiple captain was invented in 1997 when Australian Selectors appointed Steve Waugh to lead the ODI team, while senior colleague Mark Taylor remained head of the test team.
The policy was taken to a whole new level in 2009, when KKR announced that they will have multiple captains throughout the tournament to keep all the players fresh.
The Ongoing Debate
The debate got reinforcement again when the Cricket South Africa announced that Quinton de Kock will lead the team in the shorter formats only and they are searching for a candidate to captain the team in Test Cricket.
Although, the concept is not new and has been tasted by various nations over the years, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of the policy.
Currently, all team participating in the ICC Test Championship except India and New Zealand have the multiple captain policy in place. However, India and New Zealand have Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, respectively, as their captains across formats.
Is It Really A Great Deal?
The concept seemed strange and challenging at the time when it was introduced, but Australia did taste some tremendous success with the new recipe. The newly appointed captain Steve Waugh built a team of his own and won the second 50 over World Cup title for Australia in 1999.
Various teams tried and implemented the policy since its inception but England have made the most of the policy. They have traveled a journey from pits to pinnacle with the different captain for different formats policy.
Should India Opt For Multiple Captain Policy ?
There have been times when there has been demand for India to opt for the multiple captain policy. Last year when India lost to New Zealand in the semi finals of 2019 ODI world Cup cricket, experts demanded that India implement the policy, with Rohit Sharma as skipper for the shorter formats of the game and Virat as a Test skipper.
However, BCCI Chief Sourav Ganguly thinks that India doesn’t need multiple captains. In an Interview in 2019, the former Indian captain said that he had his priorities sorted and T20 world cup is our goal for now.
“I don’t think that is required to be even discussed now” said Ganguly in the interview.
Ganguly’s statement had asserted the cricket enthusiast that BCCI has full confidence in its captain and it would not have multiple captains for the men’s cricket team any time soon in the near future.
Either BCCI feels that the current leadership of the Indian team is doing well and can lead the side in all the formats of the game or its playing the waiting game to assess the effectiveness of the policy on the performances of the teams and the game.
As the case may be, we pass the question to you: Is multiple captain policy need of the hour in cricket? if yes, should India also opt for it?
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