Does captaincy burn you out after a certain point of time? Former Australian seamer Damien Fleming compares Australian captain Steve Smith to Alastair Cook, who just quit English captaincy and makes a statement that can send alarming signals. “Going into this Indian series, it’s going to be a real test for Steven Smith. We talk about (Alastair) Cook getting burnout by 32, Smithy is only 27 he won’t be captaining when he is 33, he will get burnt out,” Fleming said in an interview with RSN Radio.
And he adds, “Who is Steve Smith going to? (David) Warner is the vice-captain, he fields at mid-on … who is in the slips?” “The keepers always have a big say Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Haddin, also three very good leaders. This summer, Peter Nevill is there for two Test matches and did quite a good job. Matt Wade comes in … is under pressure, no doubt you would be talking to them but it’s not like you have got a senior lieutenant who you know is going to be there until the day they retire,” said Fleming elaborating on the support system that Australian skipper Smith needed against India in the upcoming 4-match-Test series. It is quite evident that Fleming is stressing on the captain-wicket-keeper chemistry that is imperative for a team’s success. We have seen it over the years, how a wicket-keeper has the best position on the field. MS Dhoni, captained India behind the stumps for years and now guides the newly-appointed skipper Virat Kohli.
Successful skippers like Clive Lloyd, Ian Chappell, Imran Khan, Steve Waugh, Sourav Ganguly and others had an established keeper who could be at their rescue under precarious junctures. Does, Australia lack an able wicket-keeper who has leadership qualities too?
And ex-Australian wicket-keeper Haddin has a word of advice for men behind the stumps on the Indian soil. “You just have to find a way to catch them … sometimes you’ve got to catch them ugly. You’ve just got to get something behind the ball if they’re bouncing short, not carrying. It’s an unforgiving place but this team, since the Hobart Test match, is really starting to move forward and this will be a great opportunity to see how far we’ve come,” Haddin told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“You’ve got to trust your technique .. when you’re put under pressure. And India can do that to a keeper. It can ask a lot of questions of your technique,” said Haddin who does have the experience of keeping under Indian conditions for Australia and in the Indian Premier League (IPL). So, a lot in the series will be decided behind the stumps and both Haddin and Fleming have given enough indications. Kohli will have Wriddhiman Saha, a shrewd cricketer, but what about Smith? Will, the leadership qualities of Wade come in handy for the Australian captain?
(With inputs from PTI)