India’s spin all-rounder and Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel opened up against what he described as a misplaced obsession with English-speaking skills and outward “personality” traits when it comes to choosing cricket captains.
In an interaction with The Indian Express ahead of India’s first Test against South Africa, Axar questioned the long-held perception that only players fluent in English or those with a certain body language are seen as “captaincy material.”
“People start saying ‘oh he is not a captaincy material, he doesn’t speak English. How will he talk? Yeh hai, voh hai’. Arre! Captain’s work is not to just talk,” Axar said. “Captain’s work is to know the player and see how to get the best out of him – what’s his strength, what’s his weakness. Captain knows that I have this player and what I need to do to get work out of him.”
Axar, who led Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League this year, said the idea that a captain must look or speak a certain way is rooted in social perception rather than cricketing reality. “If we say ‘personality chahiye, acha English bolna chahiye‘ – that’s a perception made by the public based on their own thinking,” he explained. “It’s important that people have to change their personal thinking. Stop thinking ‘oh his personality is good, he can speak English – so he is captain material’. One thing about captaincy is there should be no language barrier.”
The all-rounder added that this bias is often a result of what fans see and hear through the media and social media. “It’s all about what you see and what the media is showing. How active you are on social media. How you talk. People judge you on all that,” he said. “Everyone likes to give opinions these days – he is capable, he is not capable, make him captain, don’t make him captain.”
Reflecting on his own leadership style with Delhi Capitals, Axar said he tries to strike a balance between maintaining a light-hearted team atmosphere and ensuring professionalism. “I want to keep the team environment friendly and lively, but no one should take things for granted,” he said. “There’s a line – what needs to be done to win the game needs to be done first. Then we should have fun. It’s working at the moment. I believe that if you’re having fun, you do better.”
Axar added that he doesn’t follow any fixed leadership template and prefers to trust his instincts. “I am not too experienced as a captain but it’s not like I am turning to other people for help. Of course, I listen to everyone, but I back myself for the decisions I am making,” he said. “Because you need to know what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.”