[Eddy]

My respect and love for Kohli grows further, assuming this is his own decision. He is selfless enough to let go before the big auction.

I hope he regains his batting form, and wins either the WC or IPL in his final hurrah as the skipper.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Eddy

My respect and love for Kohli grows further, assuming this is his own decision. He is selfless enough to let go before the big auction.

I hope he regains his batting form, and wins either the WC or IPL in his final hurrah as the skipper.

Now I am 100% leaving India T20 Captaincy was also his decision and not forced by BCCI. We all forget one thing, he is a father now. No matter who you are life changes once you are married and changes again once you become a father. He has achieved so much, it's natural he wants to stretch his playing career as a batsman and give his family all the time he can. Absolutely brilliant decision of leaving both captaincy. I hope we get the 2016 Kohli back now.

Also, in his short video he said he will play for RCB till he retires so there isn't a rift between him and RCB management if people want to speculate about that now.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by pandey.jai

News on ESPNCricinfo that Kohli will be stepping down as RCB captain at the end in IPL 2021.

Good riddance

RCB couldn't dare removing him as captain despite pathetic record for 8 years under him (5th, 7th, 3rd, 2nd, last, 6th, last, 4th), so he's stepping down himself, thankfully.

May be he could've sensed he's stretching his luck too far with this kind of record, even though no one's in RCB seems to question/be concerned (at least openly).

RCB fans must be relieved and may continue with their eternal hope of "Ee sala cup namde (The cup is ours, this time)"

[pandey.jai]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I hope he regains his batting form, and wins either the WC or IPL in his final hurrah as the skipper.

I suspect it will have the opposite effect. Once the leader has decided to not lead next time around, and with the added bonus of a mega auction next year, it is quite natural for players to look out for themselves a little more and not care too much about the team.

Besides with Kohli not being the captain, and the mega auction next year, I wonder who the team think tank is going to be and how they will plan their strategy for the auction.

[am1m]

So going by some of the posts, I'm curious to know if most people really think that the role of the Indian Cricket Team coach should be mainly about keeping the harmony of the dressing room? It's obviously one of the things a coach should be adept at, but is that it? And in this case it obviously means just going along with everything the captain of the Indian cricket team thinks is best. Has that become an accepted fact now? Obviously the BCCI accepts that, but do most fans also these days?

Just comparing it with the role of coaches/managers of some of the football super-clubs- they need to deal with bigger superstars but somehow there the manager's decision is paramount and a tussle between the manager/superstar player usually results in the player being shown his place and not the other way around. Perhaps because they usually have more than one super star player/brand-revenue generator and perhaps that's why an IPL franchise can take these decisions more freely than a national team. Just speculating and genuinely curious.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by am1m

Just comparing it with the role of coaches/managers of some of the football super-clubs- they need to deal with bigger superstars but somehow there the manager's decision is paramount and a tussle between the manager/superstar player usually results in the player being shown his place and not the other way around.

This is definitely not true. Usually it would be the coach who would get the boot, howsoever celebrated or successful he may be. The only exception that I know of is Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd.

All managers have gotten the boot in Football. Zidane is 3x Champions League winner and he was pushed out. Same fate for Ancelotti or Mourinho or for that matter, anyone and everyone! Players, star players esp, wield enormous power. Barca fired many coaches to keep Messi in good humor!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Usually it would be the coach who would get the boot, howsoever celebrated or successful he may be.

Ok, though I usually remember reading the opposite. Messi at Barca being the exception of course. Alex Ferguson aside, I remember Jose getting his way always at Chelsea each time he clashed with the stars there. Same with Arsene Wenger. But if that's not the case really, then fair enough, I stand corrected.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by am1m

Just comparing it with the role of coaches/managers of some of the football super-clubs- they need to deal with bigger superstars but somehow there the manager's decision is paramount and a tussle between the manager/superstar player usually results in the player being shown his place and not the other way around. Perhaps because they usually have more than one super star player/brand-revenue generator and perhaps that's why an IPL franchise can take these decisions more freely than a national team. Just speculating and genuinely curious.

I think football is fundamentally a very different sport from cricket. It is, in all its effects and purposes a team sport where every member must function as a unit. Therefore, the real tactician in football is the manager and not the captain and most of the credit or blame is attributed to the manager. In fact Sir Alex was also more of a man manager himself and depended greatly on the brilliance of Eric Cantona to direct the rhythm of play on the field. But there are an equal number of tacticians also who I feel modern fans, with their hunger for quick results, find frustrating when things dont go their way.

Of course its obvious that cricket is very different and the captain has more say that the coach/manager because it is he who has to marshal the troops and take most of the key calls on the field. The personality of the captain can obviously encroach on the turf of the manager as we have seen time and again. Perhaps in Indian cricket at least, a coach with a strong technical nous and emphasis on processes is likely to find the going tough. We as it is have specialists for each department of the game.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Eddy

My respect and love for Kohli grows further, assuming this is his own decision. He is selfless enough to let go before the big auction.

I hope he regains his batting form, and wins either the WC or IPL in his final hurrah as the skipper.

You took the words straight out of my mouth, absolutely agree with you
If there's one person in international cricket today who is selfless, intense, outspoken, always having the thirst to win & succeed and wears his emotions on his face and body it is Virat. And Indian cricket has always benefitted and won around his good performances and 'lead from the front' attitude.

This is the right decision from both his personal/family perspective as well as to focus on his batting going forward. Despite being so successful as captain across the formats, takes a lot of humility and courage to give it up.

[Emvi]

MCC changes "batsman" to "batter" in Laws of Cricket.

News Link

[AZT]

SRH’s T Natarajan positive for COVID-19, BCCI conducts two tests for confirmation

The 30-year-old Natarajan, though asymptomatic, had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday during the routine round of RT-PCR tests being conducted.

The ECB will be closely watching this development as it's a similar case to the 5th Test being canceled. except in this case the match went on.

[vamsi.kona]

Originally Posted by am1m

Just comparing it with the role of coaches/managers of some of the football super-clubs- they need to deal with bigger superstars but somehow there the manager's decision is paramount and a tussle between the manager/superstar player usually results in the player being shown his place and not the other way around. Perhaps because they usually have more than one super star player/brand-revenue generator and perhaps that's why an IPL franchise can take these decisions more freely than a national team. Just speculating and genuinely curious.

Cricket and Football, while team sports so to say diverge completely when we see how and what happens on the field. Cricket, even if it is a team sport is also an individual sport. A batsmen, while playing for the team, is simply having his own battle with the bowler. While this might happen in football also, there is always support for the individual as they can pass the ball or expect their team mates to defend along with them etc.

Also in cricket the captain has time to think and decide his tactics after every ball and over. As such his/her role becomes very important in changing the tactics as the game unfolds. In football there is literally no time for the captain to talk and decide the tactics as the game is on, hence it is the manager/coach who has the chance to look at overall field and see what can be changed both before the game itself and during the game as well with substitutions or change of formations.

[Emvi]

Australia Women vs India Women

In the 2nd T20I of the 3 match series, Shikha Pandey dismissed Alyssa Healy with an absolute jaffa which has kept the social media buzzing. Women's edition of "Ball of the Century" is what Wasim Jaffer reckoned while Cricket Australia termed it as the "Ball of the Summer"!

Link

[Venkatesh]

BCCI introduces the Billion Cheers Jersey of the Indian cricket team.

The patterns on the jersey are inspired by the billion cheers of the fans.

Link

[Eddy]

I don't like it. Very boring and monotonous. Too much blue.

Sri Lanka and Namibia have fabulous kits.