Rarely has a changing of the guard in international cricket been as palpable as in the recently completed Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, 25 and 26 respectively, were both thrust into the role of captain during the series.
Smith was named Australia’s 45th Test captain before the second Test at the Gabba due to an injury to Michael Clarke, and Kohli captained the first Test, because of an injury to MS Dhoni, and the fourth Test due to Dhoni’s sudden retirement.
Both men thrived in their new roles.
Smith made 769 runs for the series at an average of 128, including centuries in the first innings of all four Tests. His aggregate is a record for a series of four games or fewer, and over the course of the series he raised his batting average from 40.39 to 52.36.
Smith’s hyperactivity and baby-faced features (not to mention the nickname ‘Smudge’) make him look like your mate’s younger brother who never gets a bat in the backyard, but his fidgety style belies his personal serenity and powers of concentration at the crease.
Smith is a cosmopolitan batsman, having played everywhere from Sutherland to Kochi, from Rajasthan to Worcestershire, and it shows in his shot selection. When the quicks are bowling, Smith pounces on anything wide or short with cross bat shots. When the spinners are on, he’s confident in moving his feet to the get to the pitch of the ball; when he gets there, there is no better proponent of the lofted straight drive in the world.
When he’s in, it almost seems like Smith can hit a ball from anywhere to anywhere, as evidenced by his audacious between-the-leg flick in the recent ODI against South Africa in Canberra.
The ascent to the captaincy has come in the midst of a patch so purple that Cadbury are considering legal action. He’s made eight centuries in the last 18 months and gone from a kid with potential to one of the best batsmen in the world, adept in all conditions.
Virat Kohli’s stats for the series are not quite as eye popping as Smith’s – 692 runs at 86.50 – but they’re close.
Kohli also made four tons for the series, including one in both innings in Adelaide where he made his captaincy debut. He then scored another on regaining the captaincy in Sydney, becoming the first player to score centuries in his first three innings as captain.
Like Smith, Kohli has had to overcome doubts. A limited-overs phenomenon – 20 ODI centuries before the age of 26 – there were always question marks over his temperament when it came to Tests. These were compounded by his poor series in England prior to the Australian summer. He struggled in the swinging conditions, averaging 13.40 without making a fifty.
He blew these issues away in Australia, where three of his four centuries came after India had conceded huge totals in the field. The other almost single handedly won India the Adelaide Test in his first match as captain, and is arguably one of the best fourth-innings centuries ever scored.
Kohli’s playing style isn’t as unique as Smith’s, but he’s equal parts street-fighter and stroke-maker – in the Ricky Ponting mould – and refuses to take a backwards step for any reason.
He’s managed to make himself a pantomime villain in Australia – something he should wear as a badge of honour. In fact, his reaction to the crowds this summer is a signpost for his changing attitudes. Last time India were in Australia, he had trouble with reacting to the crowd’s banter, including an incident in Sydney where he showed the crowd his middle finger. This time around, he laughed it off.
This isn’t to say Kohli doesn’t still have work to do on his temperament – there were a few occasions in the series where he nearly threw his wicket away while wound-up by Australian sledging – but he’s come a long way from the crazy eyed century celebration of Adelaide 2012.
Both Smith and Kohli are works in progress in regards to their captaincy. Smith could perhaps stand to work on a hunch more often, and probably needs to have more faith in Nathan Lyon. It’s more difficult to analyse Kohli’s captaincy, so bad a hand was he dealt with his bowlers, but he seems to not have the propensity for negativity that his predecessor had.
Regardless of their captaincy styles, watching Smith and Kohli dominate the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series – not to mention Kane Williamson’s brilliant double century in New Zealand – one couldn’t help but feel an almost tangible shift in cricket’s future.
With Smith and Kohli at the forefront, it’s an exciting time ahead for fans of cricket.
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