'KL Rahul lacks qualities to become India skipper' - Ajay Jadeja

Ever since Virat Kohli announced that he will step down as India T20 captain after the T20 World Cup, the debate around the next India captain has intensified. The murmurs regarding BCCI actively looking for Kohli’s successor was doing rounds even before Kohli announced his resignation. Among the current set of players, Rohit Sharma is the prime contender to take over the T20 leadership reigns from Virat Kohli. Apart from Rohit, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul’s name is also doing round.

Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja, however, feels that KL Rahul lacks the leadership qualities to become India’s next T20I skipper. Rahul currently is the skipper of Punjab Kings (PBKS) but Jadeja feels he has failed to create an aura of a leader. "If you look at KL Rahul, he's been the captain of this team for the past two years, I never get the feeling that he's a 'leader'... Whenever this team has gone through a good phase or a bad phase we never look at him. The team (PBKS playing XI) that's playing today, the changes that have been made, do you think KL Rahul has made these changes? Someone becomes an Indian captain based on his philosophy because he should be a leader. I have not seen that in KL Rahul so far because he's very soft-spoken and adjusts in everything. If he becomes the captain one day, then it's a certainty he'll last the longest because a guy ready to adjust can stay longer in that position."

Jadeja further opined that there is a huge difference between leading an IPL team and leading India. "But there are leadership qualities where whether or not I agree with his philosophy, the Indian captain should at least have one philosophy. Because there's a huge difference between the captaincy of an IPL team and the Indian team. You have to manage a lot of things there (in the latter)."

PBKS’ record under Rahul has not been that great either. The wicketkeeper batter has led the team in 25 IPL matches, winning 11 and losing 14. PBKS finished sixth in the last season and have not been in the best of form in the ongoing season as well. They need to win all their games to stay in contention for the playoffs.