Like they have always pampered him to be, Saurav is truly a prince. Unruffled at occasions when the most of cricket experts are seeking his head, he truly knows the art of emoting. What justifies this word ’prince’ is not only his ’dont mind it’ behaviour but his leadership qualities.
Before him many a captains have displayed a more mature stance on the field - to show that they are in charge. But Saurav believes in doing it before a match. That is where I see his success coming from. Most of a time he tries conveying to the player in advance and puts his faith in that player to perform. Then he just remains silent about it. The player knows this and performs presuming it is all up to him.
Backing a player against all odds is no mean task. It means that you have really made sure that the player is worth the talent. Then, the next thing you do is to give him sufficient opportunities so that he gets over his mental fears and performs. It means owning it all to your self for the player as a captain! it means being accountable.
The corollary is ’’Be accountable by empowering others’’. This philosophy of Saurav’s has many a time backfired too!. I only suppose his failing as a batsmen has provided many a people the opportunity to question this philosophy. Sure! but shouldn’t a captain be doing this? You have to sometimes separate captaincy from batting - especially when the captain is not in a good knick - because a fellow player is not motivated by the captain’s batting or bowling but his approach.
A captain is a failure when he cannot harness the talent of his 11 players - not when he himself is a batting or bowling failure. His batting or bowling to this is secondary in importance. Emoting and shouting too comes with the deal. It doesn’t mean that you are rude or ill-mannered. We indians are emotional and there is nothing wrong about it. Keeping silent or being non-puzzled does not indicate your leadership qualities. Traditional Indian captains have failed on this part. Their book-style and conventional approach left them with no room for experimentation. Saurav scores here too! and he is always the first to dump a player for his noncommitment to the game. Ravi Shastri would have found it really hard to be in his team. The upcoming world cup is a acid test for Saurav. A test of his philosophy. He can always be in the Indian team as a batsman by doing some corrections to his technique. But not as a captain if he fails with this philosophy. Whatever be the outcome of the world cup, Saurav’s style of captaincy will inspire future captains of India to be original in their approach and test this approach rather than being outwardly conventional.
Best of Luck, Saurav!