Sorry end to a grand term

India cricket captain Virat Kohli during a press conference in 2019. Pic/Getty Images

The loss in South Africa was not a whitewash. But it came after earning bragging rights through victory in the opening Test at Centurion.

Then came the back spasm-caused pull-out of the Johannesburg Test. Then came the Cape Town jolt.

Then came the post-Test press conference in which he looked worried, weary and worn.

Then came the resignation as Test captain.

And, oh yes, the high drama surrounding his exit from the T20 captaincy and subsequent sacking from the ODI job made it all too difficult for Virat Kohli to continue as boss of the Test team.

Murmurs about certain players not being happy with the style of leadership appeared in the media. Sure, there is merit in the presumption that life as a captain would not be the same with newly-installed coach Rahul Dravid, who, going by the way he played his cricket, would frown upon Kohli's possible future shenanigans.

Life can be very lonely for a troubled captain and even if he put REM's Everybody Hurts on loop, the anguish wouldn't have disappeared.

History tells us that captains have felt that great temptation and eventually given in to putting that full stop to their leadership roles. Sometimes after success, most of the time after failures and some, like Polly Umrigar, over a particular selection.

Umrigar was all set to lead India in the fourth Test against the West Indies in the 1958-59 home series at Chennai. On match eve, Vijay Manjrekar withdrew due to a knee injury. The then BCCI president Rathibai Patel ordered that off-spinner Jasu Patel be included in the playing XI. This enraged Umrigar, who threatened to not lead the side if it didn't include a replacement batsman; fellow Mumbai man Manohar Hardikar being his reported choice. The president insisted and Umrigar's resignation was accepted by selector Lala Amarnath.

Ultimately, AK Sengupta from the Services made his debut in the side which didn't have Jasu Patel but it didn't have Umrigar leading either.

This newspaper's columnist Ian Chappell walked off The Oval after retaining the Ashes in August 1975 and told his team that he'd not captain them any longer. Ian never lost a Test series as captain in his four-year stint, but he was watching the clock towards the end and that was the let's-give-it-up signal.

Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to their 1975 and 1979 World Cup wins, famously tasted defeat in the 1983 final against India. While the Indians celebrated with champagne meant for his men in their Lord's dressing room, he told his team that he had decided to quit. But according to the late fast bowling great Malcolm Marshall, ‘Father' was coaxed by some members of the team to reconsider his decision and he led the team for another two years.

Sunil Gavaskar led an Indian team that lost the 1984-85 home Test series to David Gower's England after winning the opening Test in Mumbai. He decided the World Championship of Cricket in Australia would be his last assignment. He informed the Board of his decision before departing for the event held in Sydney and Melbourne. The media too were aware as India went about winning their games Down Under.

Gavaskar had not lost a home Test series before, so was it good enough reason to give up the captaincy, the cricket fan in me wondered way back then.

Gavaskar's captaincy farewell had a fairy tale ending with India beating Pakistan for the silverware at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 10, 1985.

Sachin Tendulkar was the next India captain to give up the job. A little over a fortnight after returning from Australia in 2000, Tendulkar drove to the Cricket Club of India, where the touring South Africans were playing their warm-up game against the Board President's XI and announced to the media that he would lead India only up to the two-Test series against South Africa, which was to begin shortly.

Seven years later, Rahul Dravid decided to stop wearing the captain's hat after the 2007 tour of England. Anil Kumble, troubled by a finger injury announced his retirement after some encouraging home and away results against Australia a year later and MS Dhoni gave up the Test captaincy right in the middle of the 2014-15 series in Australia. Why he did so during a crucial Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is still a mystery.

An era ended last week with another mystery surfacing. There are clues, but even Sherlock Holmes wouldn't have solved it. The magnifying glass is with the protagonist.

Kohli deserved unprecedented success in South Africa, but the hosts were better than his bunch. India's batting weakness showed up and his much-hailed bowling attack couldn't land the punch that mattered. Sadly, that image of talking to a live stump mic on the penultimate day at Cape Town will stay in the minds of cricket lovers young and old. It was coarse and not cool.

Kohli called the shots like an abrasive prefect at school. But he was also top of the class and it's too early to rule out seeing him in a future term.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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