‘Three captains fair enough’

Ex-India skipper Gundappa Viswanath feels split captaincy will have beneficial effect, provided India have astute leaders

Captaincy plays a key role in shaping a team’s performance be it in the long or shorter versions of cricket.

However, with an increasing number of games across all the three formats —Tests, ODIs and T20Is—it becomes quite challenging for a captain to shoulder all responsibility and cope with the pressure of expectations.

Gundappa Viswanath at MCA’s BKC Ground on Saturday. Pic/Subodh Mayure

Former India skipper Gundappa Viswanath has suggested different captains for the three formats, provided India have potential team leaders. 

Viswanath, 72, who represented the country in 91 Tests, felt split captaincy will help reduce the workload on one captain.

“Yes, if you have three different captains of calibre…you can’t just force it. You can’t just make somebody lead the side, he has to be good. He can bring down the load for one person,” Viswanath told Sunday mid-day after inaugurating the Madhav Mantri Centenary One-Day League at MCA’s Bandra-Kurla Complex Ground on Saturday.

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Viswanath, who was India’s chairman of selectors for the 1996 World Cup, added: “One-day cricket, even though it’s 20 overs or 50 overs, takes a lot [off a captain]. These days, within no time you see that you have already played 200 matches. So, the workload is too much and if we have that, [three captains for different formats] it’s fair enough.”

Virat Kohli leads India in all three formats. However, he has decided to step down as T20I skipper after the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Currently, Joe Root is England’s Test captain while Eoin Morgan captains the ODI and T20 sides. Tim Paine and Aaron Finch lead Australia’s challenge in red and white-ball cricket respectively. However, Kane Williamson leads New Zealand in all three formats.   

‘Started playing square cut to get more boundaries’

Gundappa Viswanath, 72, remembers a lesson learnt during his first meeting with former Test cricketers Madhav Mantri and Polly Umrigar when he was playing the Ranji Trophy semi-final for Mysore against Bombay at the Brabourne Stadium in 1969-70.

“Madhav Mantri said, ‘Don’t throw your wicket away; let the bowler take it.’ That really helped,” remarked Viswanath, who scored 29 and 95 in the match Bombay won on the basis of first innings lead. Viswanath also revealed how he mastered his trademark late cut. “When I started playing, I didn’t have much muscle. I was 
very thin. My drives and flicks never went to the boundary rope. Hence, I worked on the square cut and late cut, basically to get more fours,” added Viswanath.

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