The Economist - USA (2022-01-22)

The Economist January 22nd 2022 Asia 33

F

ewpositionsinIndiaconferasmuch

prestigeascaptainofthecountry’s

Testcricketteam—orasmuchweight.

Carryingthehopesofa billioncricket­

madIndiansrequiresa verybroadback.

Forthemit isnotenoughthattheskipper

beanexceptionalsportsmanandinspire

a winningteam.Hemustalsoprojecta

senseofnationalself­confidencetoa

worldwhich,somefeel,iswonttobelit­

tleIndia.

ThatisexactlywhatViratKohli,who

resignedfromthepostonJanuary15th,

managedtodo.Eventhoughhisteam

hadjustlosttoSouthAfrica,MrKohli

wascomfortablyIndia’smostsuccessful

cricketingleaderever(seechart).Under

hisguidanceIndia’steamjumpedtothe

topoftheTestrankings.Fora whilehe

wasalsoconsideredthebestbatsmanin

theworld.

Onthepitchhewaspugnacious,

sometimesrilingopponentswhowere

moreusedtoIndianteamswithless

bristle.Hewasobsessedwithassembling

a batteryofsnarlingfastbowlers,some­

thingtheteamhadlackedfordecades.

MrKohli,whohailsfromDelhi,a city

knownforitsabrasiveness,believedthis

torepresentthenewIndia.Histeam­

matesabsorbedhisvision.Manynow

resemblehimineverythingfromhis

brashdemeanourtohistidybeard.

MrKohli’sbrazennationalismalso

alignedwellwiththecountry’spolitical

mood.WhenanIndianfanonTwitter

toldhimhepreferredwatchingEnglish

andAustralianbatsmen,MrKohlitold

himtogo“livesomewhereelse”,a retort

straightfromtherulingHindu

nationalistgovernment’shandbook.The

playermadenosecretofhisadmiration

forNarendraModi,India’sprimemin­

ister.Whenhewasre­electedin2019,Mr

Kohligushedthathewouldtakethe

countryto“greaterheights”.

Allofthishasmadehimenormously

popular.OnTwitterhehasaround46m

followers,morethananyotherathletein

theworldbarfootballersCristianoRon­

aldoandNeymar,andbasketballstar

LeBronJames.Buttheadulationishardly

unconditional.Whenhisformdips,he

hastoendureabuseonline.Hiswife,

AnushkaSharma,a Bollywoodactress,

sometimescopsit worse.Andwhenhe

leapttothedefenceofMohammedSha­

mi,a teammatewhohadreceivedanti­

Musliminsults,theresponsefromHin­

duchauvinisttrollswasvitriolic.Intheir

view,atleast,hewasnotaggressive

enoughforthenewIndia.

CricketinIndia

A captainwalks

S INGAPORE

ViratKohli,India’smostsuccessfulTestcricketcaptain,stepsdown

Challenging royalty

Top ten men’s Test cricket captains*

Since 1877, by share of wins, %

Source:Cricinfo *Minimum 2 matches †West Indies

Viv Richards (WI†)

Steve Smith (AUS)

Bill Woodfull (AUS)

Kane Williamson (NZ)

Mike Brearley (ENG)

Lindsay Hassett (AUS)

Virat Kohli (IND)

Ricky Ponting (AUS)

Don Bradman (AUS)

Steve Waugh (AUS)

8070605040

SouthKorea’spresidentialelection

Mud on mud

A

ll of south korea’spast  presidents
have been tainted by corruption inves­
tigations.  Both  of  the  surviving  ones  have
served time in prison for corruption. Park
Geun­hye  was  pardoned  only  last  month,
for  health  reasons;  Lee  Myung­bak  re­
mains  in  his  cell.  Even  Moon  Jae­in,  the
current  president,  who  prides  himself  on
his  probity,  has  seen  a  close  ally  impris­
oned  for  violating  electoral  law  and  has
lost a justice minister to an influence­ped­
dling investigation (the case is ongoing). 
Politicians usually manage to get elect­
ed  before  becoming  mired  in  scandals.
That  precedent  may  be  overturned  by  the
candidates  vying  for  the  presidency  in  an
election  slated  for  March  9th.  (Mr  Moon
cannot  run  again,  as  South  Korean  presi­
dents  are  limited  to  a  single  five­year
term.)  Both  Lee  Jae­myung  of  the  ruling
Minjoo  Party  and  Yoon  Seok­youl  of  the
conservative opposition People Power Par­
ty  (ppp)  have  been  accused  of  serious
wrongdoing  since  the  campaign  began.
The pair deny any misdeeds. Yet each camp
has  tried  to  find  advantage  in  the  other’s
adversity.  With  just  six  weeks  to  go,  the
campaign has been heavy on mudslinging
and light on serious debate.
Mr  Lee’s  biggest  potential  headache  is
an  investigation  into  allegedly  corrupt
land  deals in  Seongnam,  a  middle­class
suburb of Seoul, while he was its mayor. He
denies any involvement and has survived a
parliamentary audit into the matter. So far
the  opposition’s  calls  for  an  independent
probe  into  the  scandal  and  his  role  in  it
have  gone  unheeded.  Two  officials  who
were indicted on corruption charges in the
case committed suicide in December. That
reduces  the  chances  that  the  full  tale  will
ever come to light. 
Even so, the furore reflects poorly on Mr
Lee,  whose  job  it  was  to  oversee  the  local
development  corporation  at  the  centre  of
the case. He stresses his working­class ori­
gins and carefully cultivates an approach­
able image. The opposition portrays him as
a  gangster,  playing  up  alleged  links  to  or­
ganised  crime  and  berating  him  for  de­
fending men who had killed their partners
when he was a lawyer.
Banging  on  about  Mr  Lee’s  shortcom­
ings  is  a  good  way  to  distract  voters  from
Mr  Yoon’s.  The  ppp’s  candidate—a  former
chief  prosecutor  who  resigned  last  year
after tangling with Mr Moon’s justice min­
ister—has  proved  himself  a  loose  cannon

since  entering  politics  last  summer.  His

campaign  has  been  marred  by  infighting.

He lost his campaign manager and was em­

broiled in a weeks­long spat with Lee Jun­

seok,  his  party’s  chairman,  over  appoint­

ments  and  the  campaign’s  direction. The

two  men  reached  an  uneasy  truce  earlier

this month. 

Meanwhile, prosecutors are investigat­

ing  claims  that,  as  chief  prosecutor,  Mr

Yoon  abetted  an  underling  who  allegedly

helped  the  ppp file  criminal  complaints

against  Minjoo  party  lawmakers  in  the

run­up to elections in 2020 (he denies the

allegations).  Mr  Yoon’s  numerous  gaffes

include  claims  that  “poor  or  uneducated”

people  do  not  feel  the  need  for  freedom

and  that  those  fighting  against  South  Ko­

rea’s military dictatorship in the 1980s did

not really care about democracy. 

Mr Yoon’s family is an additional liabil­

ity.  His  mother­in­law  has  received  a

three­year  prison  sentence  for  medical

fraud. His wife, Kim Keon­hee, has admit­

ted that she forged most of her cvwhen ap­

plying for jobs as an art curator. This is par­

ticularly awkward given that Mr Yoon over­

saw the investigation that led to the jailing

of  the  wife  of  Cho  Kuk,  Mr  Moon’s  dis­

graced  justice  minister,  for  forging  docu­

ments to help her daughter’s university ap­

plication.  Ms  Kim  also  caused  outrage

among  young  women  in  particular  after

claiming  that  South  Korean  left­wingers

had  experienced  more  #MeToo  cases  than

conservatives  because  conservatives

“make sure they pay” the victims. 

With  the  candidates’  campaigns  fo­

Voters do not think much of either of
the two main candidates