Next To The Prime Minister, The Indian Captain's Job Is Enviable In The Country: Bharat Arun

Former Indian player Bharat Arun said that a player who can take the pressure on his shoulders has the quality of leading the team.

The fact that India has only two World Cup-winning captains – Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni. But that doesn’t mean the contributions of other leaders like Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli should be sidelined.

MS Dhoni only Indian captain to win three ICC trophies

Kohli, who recently relinquished captaincy from all formats, holds the record for most Test wins (40) as India’s Test skipper. Dhoni has the same record in both the white-ball formats with 41 wins in T20Is and 110 in ODIs.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all three ICC events in the history of cricket as he led India in the 2007 T20 World Cup (South Africa), 2011 World Cup (India) and 2013 Champions Trophy (England and Wales).

Dhoni’s successor Kohli never had the fortune to win an ICC title during his tenure even though he has distinctive achievements in overseas Test series.

India’s next white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma has also tasted some success with the India team, winning the Asia Cup and Nidahas Trophy in 2018.

Virat Kohli was willing to lead by example: Bharat Arun

Arun, who was Team India’s bowling coach for four years (2017-2021) spoke about the leadership qualities of Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit.

“I watched MS Dhoni, the coolest mind you could ever have. Nothing fazes him. If you have a mind that is cool, calm, calculative … that is the best state to take decisions on the go, because the decisions have to be very dynamic. You are making decisions on the go.

“Next to the Prime Minister, the Indian captain is the most enviable job in the country, so I think somebody who can take the pressure [is the right fit],” Arun told News9.

“If you look at Virat Kohli and Dhoni, contrasting characters. But each one has his way of bringing something to the table. Once he is on the field, Virat is at the opposition. He wants to win at any cost. The energy he brought to the field was absolutely different.

“He was willing to lead by example, take the bull by its horn and that’s what the captain should do. If you look at Rohit Sharma, he has a different methodology to his captaincy but he is also equally successful,” Arun added.

Rohit Sharma will be leading India for the time in the ODI series against the West Indies since he was handed the complete white-ball captaincy ahead of the South Africa tour.

Also Read: His Experience As Mumbai Indians Skipper At The IPL Would Help – Aamer Sohail Believes Rohit Sharma Is The Right Choice For Captaincy