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True captains do not come dime a dozen
By S.R. Pathiravithana
True captains do not come dime a dozen. They are a rare breed, but, when they adorn, they leave an indelible mark in the annals of the given sport. This story is about three true captains who hailed from three different cities and helped their respective countries and the sub-continet that they live change their cricketing image forever.

They are three individuals by the names of Kapildev Ramlal Niakhanj who hails from the city of Chandigarh, India, Imran Khan Niazi from Lahore, Pakistan and Arjuna Ranatunge from Gampaha, Sri Lanka. These three individuals have many things in common but, most significant of them is they led their respective countries to win the coveted World Cup while some of the 'giants' in the arena are still drawing up strategies of how to do so.

Kapildev led the Indians to their win beating the then giants West Indies depriving them of their third consecutive win in 1983. In 1992 Imran Khan led his side to victory over England to win the cup, while Arjuna Ranatunge's side redesigned the batting strategies in one-day cricket and beat Australia who belittled them by refusing to play in the island in the preliminary stage in 1996.

Another common factor between these three individuals are, that they possess very strong individual characters which some times even went beyond the established norms set by the system. Some liked their styles and some hated them.
Not that they were always right, but the fact remains that they played having a certain agenda and the end result was that they moulded three sets of world beaters who delivered the World Cup to their respective countries.

In 1983 India started the tournament taking it by storm when they beat the defending champions West Indies by 34 runs and then half way through the tournament they were stuck by the debutant Zimbabweans and were struggling at 17 for 5. Then the true Indian grit came out in their skipper Kapildev who made a memorable knock of 175 not out with six sixes and sixteen fours and his team never looked back till they brought home the trophy, thus becoming only the second team to do so besides the West Indies.

With regard to Pakistan's win the Wisden said " Pakistan were the worthy winners. They started the tournament slowly, but improved constantly, and under the superb leadership of Imran Khan they played as a team - Something that the Pakistan sides have not always done. " This statement sums up of what influence Imran had over his team.

Sri Lanka who gained Test status in 1982, came under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunge in 1989-90 series against Australia. In the first five years he moulded the side into a regular combination, but, the true spirit of the Lankan team came after the ' boxing day ' issue in Australia where Darryl Hair called spinner Muralitharan and the whole country stood up in unison.

This reached a crescendo when Australia refused to play their preliminary matches in the island. The result was that Sri Lanka became the first host country to win the World Cup. Arjuna Ranatunge led the side by example.

His innings along with Aravinda de Silva in the final will be remembered by all Sri Lankans who were fortunate enough to watch it on their TV screens. Christopher Martin -Jenkins wrote in the Electronic Telegraph " The image will long remain one of the most romantic in the continuously evolving history of cricket. Half past ten on a misty night in Lahore (The birth town of Imran Khan ) as the rain began to fall, Arjuna Ranatunge, a tubby little 32-year-old in dark blue shirt and trousers, holds up a huge silver trophy: a monument to a little nation's marvellous sporting achievement".
Still the fact remains that Arjuna has been Sri Lanka's best cricket captain ever produced.

This exercise above goes to prove that a true captain is in charge of a team. Generally it is not divided. When leadership is divided at times loyalties within may start wavering. If that happens, even if the two incumbent captains of a team ( one for one-day and the other for Test cricket ) are on very good terms, cracks are bound appear and it may be too late for remedial action.

Another stubborn factor is that when the system appoints two captains one tends to feel that the system has undermined the abilities of the other. Even if they are a bit difficult to handle the system must go for a captain who has true leadership qualities is bound to bring the team under one banner and play as one-unit.

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