World Cup-winning former India opener Gautam Gambhir said it’s too early to judge KL Rahul’s captaincy credentials while defending the batting star from critics after India lost a Test and 3 ODIs under his captaincy in South Africa.
Rahul led Punjab Kings in the last 2 IPL seasons but was unable to take his team into the play-offs despite some stunning individual performances. Rahul was appointed the vice-captain of India’s limited-overs side and he led in the Johannesburg Test against South Africa earlier this year when Virat Kohli had to sit out due to a back spasm. In the absence of injured Rohit Sharma, Rahul was named the captain of the ODI side for the series in South Africa.
However, Rahul’s captaincy was questioned as India lost the Johannesburg Test, allowing South Africa to make a comeback into the 3-Test series after the visitors, under Virat Kohli, had won the series opener in Centurion. India went down 0-3 in the ODI series, returning home empty-handed.
“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.
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.
“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,” Gambhir added.
