India news: Too early to judge KL Rahul’s captaincy credentials

KL Rahul’s captaincy of the India side should not be judged yet, according to the former opener and World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir.

Rahul came under heavy criticism after India’s 2-1 defeat in the Test series against South Africa and the 3-0 loss in the one-day internationals that followed shortly after.

Four of the five losses on the tour to South Africa came under Rahul’s leadership, who led the Test side in the absence of then-captain Virat Kohli and white-ball captain Rohit Sharma.

This was after he was named vice-captain of the limited-overs side, and stepped in for Kohli in the Johannesburg Test match as well as for the injured Sharma in the ODIs.

Rahul was the top leadership candidate in the side after he led Punjab Kings with aplomb in the IPL for two seasons, and despite his ton in the first Test in Centurion, he was unable to replicate his form for the remainder of the tour.

Gambhir, though, thinks it is too soon in his leadership career to write him off, despite the heavy criticism he has had to endure following India’s defeats, particularly in the ODIs, where he was outshone by his Proteas counterpart Temba Bavuma.

One for the future

Nevertheless, he will continue to be Rohit’s deputy in the white-ball format and was named Lucknow Super Giants captain on Monday.

Rahul will continue to be Rohit’s deputy in the white-ball format as India named the Lucknow captain as the vice-captain of the ODI and T20I teams for the upcoming series against West Indies.

“Sometimes we start relating someone just with performances and the results. It’s too early to judge someone by just captaining 4 game,” Gambhir said.

“But the most important attribute a leader should have is he doesn’t fly too high that he doesn’t go down too deep either. That is probably the best quality KL Rahul has.

“Always captaincy is a work in progress. You can never say, as a player or as a leader, that you have achieved everything. You want to keep improving every day.

“You got to be the best of yourself till the last day of your career.

“Whatever I have seen of KL, he has a great, great future ahead not only as a batter but as a leader as well.

“Because that is a quality that very few people have – being calm and composed. When you start doing that, that reflects on the entire team as well.

“When you have that kind of leader, the entire squad will benefit a lot. And I am sure he is going to do that, knowing the kind of person that he is.”

New team Lucknow picked Rahul as captain during the draft for the two new IPL sides and paid Rs 17 crore for his services.