Former England skipper Mike Brearley loves to watch Indian captain Virat Kohli play but he also fears that the 29-year-old captain could become “too authoritarian”.
Brearley captained England in 31 Test matches and he was known for bringing out the best in his players. The 76-year-old is also considered one of the sharpest minds to have ever played the game of cricket.
“I love watching him (Kohli) play cricket. He is a very intelligent captain and has tremendous presence on the field,” Brearley said in an interview to Times of India, adding, “But he has so much charisma, articulacy and authority that there’s a danger of him becoming authoritarian.”
“He has got to have the capacity to tell people what to do. But if you become too authoritarian, then you are not open to other points of view. Becoming too influential can also mean that people are scared of giving you the opinion and then you don’t gather in. You need to have 11 captains in the team, just that you have to be the in-charge,” Brearley added.
Brearley also believes English skipper Joe Root should show some authority.
“Having said that, I would add that Joe Root would do well to show some authority the way Kohli does. He would do well to articulate what he is looking for from his team, which I don’t know if he has done enough,” he said.
Brearley further said, “Captaincy needs to be fairly intuitive. You can talk to some. You can talk to somebody else and try to figure out what happens in his mind.”