Former England skipper Nasser Hussain thinks Virat Kohli will not be comfortable sharing captaincy duties because the Indian captain is “imposing” as a person.
However, Hussain feels that the Indian team management messes up selections a la the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand and that split-coaching might be a good idea.
Hussain’s view on selection was similar to former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who questioned how coach Ravi Shastri is dealing with players with different mindsets. Asked if split captaincy can work in India, like it did with England, Hussain didn’t sound confident.
“It depends on the character,” Hussain told Harsha Bhogle in a Cricbuzz video interaction.
“Virat [Kohli] is such an imposing character, all encompassing. It would be difficult for him to hand over [captaincy]. He wouldn’t want to hand anything over. Whereas with England, we have [Eoin] Morgan and [Joe] Root, two likeable, laidback [characters].”
Watch: Bhogle on why Rohit replacing Kohli as India’s white-ball captain may not be a good idea
Hussain, a respected voice in world cricket, thinks that having multiple coaches in a setup isn’t a bad idea.
“Coaches have so much to do, whether you should have a split coach, they have so much on their plate. Just to give you a fresh perspective like Trevor Bayliss for example. He cracked white ball for England but we didn’t really crack Test match cricket. So maybe two different coaches would be the right way to go,” the 52-year-old said.
“One thing they [India] don’t do well is selection. They couldn’t get a No 4 despite having so many great batsmen. Unlike New Zealand, who have only that many players to choose from, India have so much of talent that after two failures, a new player comes in and then a next,” he added.
Hussain reserved praise for New Zealand captain Kane Williamson while acknowledging Kohli’s hand behind India’s rise in recent years.
“India’s emphasis on fitness, change in culture and their winning mentality is down to Kohli,” Hussain said. “But my favourite, and one of the reasons because he is a great ambassador to the game,is Williamson. With the resources New Zealand have, as India and England found out recently with Test series defeats], their record at home is phenomenal.”
He added: “What has amazed me about India is how the superstars have handled themselves over the years, whether it is Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid], Sourav [Ganguly] or now Virat. The pressure on their shoulders...I’m surprised that there has been no incident that has been reported over the years.”
Hussain credited current Board of Control for Cricket in India chief Ganguly’s reign at the turn of the century for reviving the country’s fortunes.
“I always have admiration for what Ganguly did. Previously, they had great players like Mohammed Azharuddin and Javagal Srinath but they were a nice team. Ganguly made them a tough team with guys like Harbhajan [Singh] and Yuvraj [Singh]. He’d make me wait for the toss,” Hussain said with a chuckle.
“You don’t want eleven nice guys. You want feisty characters in the team.”
The former captain picked out KL Rahul and limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma for their elegance and hailed the way Kohli sets up a run chase.
“If there is a run chase, I’d be looking at Kohli and he’d be batting at 60 or 70 and I tune in even while I’m doing commentary somewhere else in the world.
“Among the current lot of the Indians, the one who is the most pleasing on the eye is KL Rahul. He makes batting look so easy.”
Hussain added: “Rohit Sharma has made batting look easy and he should be able to crack Test match cricket. He has had a good run in red-ball cricket recently and long may that continue. I am sure players around the world are going ‘boy, this guy can bat.’”
Watch Nasser Hussain’s conversation with Harsha Bhogle here: