KL Rahul, as a captain, has come under heavy scrutiny for his decision-making and team selection. Several pundits and former cricketers believe KL Rahul is not ready yet and the latest person to jump on the bandwagon is former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria.
India’s ongoing tour of South Africa has been riddled with poor performances, controversies, and a lot of tension. Hardly anything has gone right for the Rahul Dravid-coached side as the ‘Men in Blue’ have been defeated in the ODI series after conceding the Test series 2-1 to the Proteas.
Danish Kaneria: There’s No Intensity In KL Rahul’s Captaincy
Moreover, before the start of the white-ball series, Virat Kohli surprisingly stepped down as the nation’s Test captain. Danish Kaneria, while analyzing the performance, has stated that all is not well within the camp.
While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Danish Kaneria talked about Virat Kohli’s attitude and body language, and also made a comment on KL Rahul’s leadership in the ongoing India-South Africa ODI series. By winning the second ODI by seven wickets on Friday, the hosts have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Earlier on Wednesday, they had beaten the KL Rahul-led side by 31 runs in the first game.
“There’s no intensity in KL Rahul’s captaincy. Virat looks distant, disconnected from the team. When a review is being taken, he doesn’t close in as much and he isn’t giving a lot of input to the captain. You get to know what’s going inside a cricketer’s heart by judging their body language.”
Danish Kaneria, who bagged 261 wickets in 61 Tests for Pakistan, also pondered a divide in the dressing room after Virat Kohli’s exit from the leadership role. KL Rahul, who is captaining India in the ODI series in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, has posted scores of 12 and 55 in the two ODIs against Proteas so far.
KL Rahul Not Ready To Lead Indian Team: Danish Kaneria
All the confusion, questions in regard to India’s New Test Captain can be laid to rest. The BCCI is set to name Rohit Sharma as India’s New Test Captain. The BCCI will make an official announcement before the start of the West Indies tour of India.
“There seems to be a division within the team. Team India isn’t showing the intensity and the approach that Virat used to bring to the team (when he was captain). Going by KL Rahul’s captaincy, Rohit Sharma should come back as captain. KL Rahul is not ready to lead the team,” elaborated Kaneria.
After the conclusion of the ongoing tour, India will play three ODIs, followed by as many T20Is, against the West Indies between February 6-20. Rohit Sharma is likely to return to the team for the series, which will be his first as a full-time captain of the white-ball team. The third and final ODI will take place on Sunday, January 23 in Cape Town, and the visitors would look to avoid a whitewash.
Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen are on the crease for South Africa after the home team is three wickets down in the third ODI against India at the Newlands in Cape Town. Deepak Chahar has been the pick of the Indian bowlers so far with his two wickets. The pacer first removed Janneman Malan in his second over and later dismissed Aiden Markram.
India XI: KL Rahul (capt), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Jayant Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal