Virat Kohli

Ravi Shastri

Mohammad Hafeez

Kiran More

It was not captured by the omnipresent television cameras but something curious happened at Old Trafford on Sunday morning. Immediately after the national anthems were played,rushed to KL Rahul and put his hand on the padded-up youngster’s shoulder. There was a 30-second whisper in the opener’s ears and a minute later Rahul came out to bat with Rohit Sharma.Now, it was well known that all Indian eyes were on Rahul, who was standing in for an injured Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order. Whatever the brief chat may have been about, Rahul went out with a good mindset and hit a classy half-century which was instrumental in India laying a strong foundation that became so crucial in the end. It was unlikely that Kohli would have given an inspiring speech in those 30 seconds, but it was clear that the captain was leaving no point untouched to bring the best out of his players.Half an hour prior to that, Kohli was engaged in an animated chat withnear the pitch. So engrossed was he in the discussion that Ramiz Raja had to tell the India skipper that it was all set for the toss. It appeared from a distance that the captain and coach were surely not discussing the dinner menu. Once the mid-pitch interviews were done, the captain and coach came back together to the dressing room, still engaged in a discussion. Pre and post-toss, the captain and coach were seen discussing points that may have been crucial to the game.About two hours into the Pakistan innings, Kohli asked Vijay Shankar to move to deep-square leg. Hardik Pandya then bowled a full-length delivery andflicked the ball. It was an easy catch for Vijay... it appeared as if the captain, bowler and fielder had laid a trap for the batsman. It is not known at what point this was discussed but it appeared like a planned dismissal.Kohli would banish himself to the outfield, leaving MS Dhoni to set the field. That was nothing new but what can be said with appreciation is that here is a skipper who is not insecure and not worried about someone else taking credit for an achievement. Understanding between the skipper and the senior-most player is a luxury that few teams have. The Indian team is extremely lucky in that sense.Inside the dressing room, it is said he is clear about what he expects of his team-mates. He has made no bones about his backing for Kuldeep Yadav, who had come here after a poor showing in the IPL. He made it clear that the left-arm wrist spinner would remain his key bowler. The youngster justified the captain’s faith in the Pakistan game. Kohli also showed a different angle to his captaincy by openly backing the beleaguered Steve Smith, winning many an Aussie heart.“His intuitive touch seems to be working very well. Who would have thought Vijay Shankar would provide the breakthrough once Bhuvneshwar Kumar got injured,” said former India wicket-keeper, lauding Kohli’s decisions.“He is backing the players to the fullest and showing the courage of conviction. I was surprised by Vijay Shankar’s selection but the captain is standing by that decision. He is also backing Kuldeep to the fullest. Some of his bowling changes look very accurate and off the field also, he is coming across as a good leader, handling the media and the opposition very well. He has matured and grown as a captain in this World Cup,” More, known to be an astute reader of the game, said.While batting, he would not go for the glory shots, letting the other batsman do that. Rohit Sharma would take charge while Kohli would try to rotate the strike and when Pandya would come in, he would get the maximum strike to go for the maximums. Kohli would again rotate the strike.So far Kohli’s scores in this World Cup have been 18, 82 and 77, none of them the highest score of the innings. There may be something that is worth looking forward to. It is unlikely that the World Cup will not have a Kohli batting special and that may be worth waiting for. But ask him and he would say he would want to do what is in the best interest of the side – a sign of a good leader.