Ian Chappell: Captaincy will play crucial role in India-Australia series

Leadership will play a decisive role in the forthcoming India vs Australia Tests and Ashes seriesTheres a likelihood captaincy will play a decisive part in two major Test series involving India Australia and England in the next few months That being the case lets look at recent leadership trendsThe best way to gauge captaincy when you are following a game is to notice if the onfield tactics seem to have a logical pattern If they do then theres a fair chance the skipper is on the ball If however his moves bear no relationship to what the batsmen are doing or the game situation then it probably means the captain has either dozed off or is out of his depth Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson right is congratulated by skipper Ricky Ponting as he celebrates the wicket of NZs Ross Taylor during the second Test match in Hamilton last March picGetty ImagesThis raises an interesting point about modern captaincy I suspect teams devote excess time to prematch plans and too little emphasis is placed on the gut feel aspect of captaincy Its fine to have a loosely formed plan for each batsman but when its not working thats the time to adapt quicklyYou show me a plan that regularly works for a batsman and Ill point out a slowlearning willow wielder whos a very limited stroke makerSituations in which the plan remains the plan are unmasked when fieldsmen are automatically placed to save boundaries even for a batsman new at the crease If these guys then remain rooted to the spot like a century old statue despite not fielding a ball for half an hour then the captain has an imagination that runs the full gamut from A to B Good captains are well prepared but they also rely on gut feel The premonition part of captaincy can provide a breakthrough that sparks a teams revival in a tense situation Thats why brave and inspirational leaders are often able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat In The Oval Test England needed a spark to defeat Pakistan when the tourists were rolling to victory Instead of being brave and gambling Andrew Strauss opted to put all his faith in Graeme Swann It never pays to concentrate the bulk of your efforts on taking wickets at one end but it certainly isnt a good ploy when you need a lot of victims in a hurryOn this evidence its easy to conclude Strauss might struggle in Australia A captain has to be imaginative and brave at times in Australia This is especially true in Strauss case because his pace attack is renowned for excelling in conditions not often encountered in Australia and judging by Englands current batting form runs will be at a premiumBoth Strauss and his bowlers better be more adaptable than they were at The Oval or else their Ashes campaign will go off track in the manner of Steve Harmisons first delivery on the last tour of AustraliaOne English writer deemed this a minor concern because Ricky Ponting is not much of a tactician eitherSure Ponting can be conservative but he has one major advantage over Strauss When Pontings pushed into a corner he will resort to all out attack He did so at Trent Bridge in 2005 and very nearly pulled off an amazing victory Attack was also the basis for Australias unlikely win over Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground last summer However before he tangles with Strauss Ponting has to confront India and Mahendra Singh Dhoni Dhoni is tactically the most aggressive of the three captains but his confidence may have been dented by leading an attack that has regressed lately The outcome of the series against Australia could well depend on not only the performance of the Indian bowlers but also whether Dhoni can conjure up some magic that will inspire his leather flingers A modern captain can find numerous reasons for being conservative among them heavier bats and the abundance ofu00a0 containment cricket played in the shorter versions of the gameNevertheless there are a few simple rules of captaincy that should never change 1 Never concede you cant get a batsman out always place a field that indicates youre still trying to take a wicket 2 Dont willingly give up easy singles 3 The more dire the situation the braver the captaincy Aggressive field placings boost a bowlers confidence and make him think about taking wickets rather than the consequences of bowling a bad ball The captain who performs these tasks best in India and The Ashes series will increase his teams chances of winning two tough campaigns that could well swing on one or two bold moves