Former India batter Manoj Tiwary questioned the selectors’ call to appoint KL Rahul as stand-in captain during the South Africa tour, saying what did they see in hm as “captaincy material”, adding that it takes time to groom a player into a leadership role.
KL Rahul chipped in as captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma during the ODI series which India lost 0-3 in South Africa. He was also made the captain for the 2nd Test when Virat Kohli sat out due to a back spasm. India lost the Test, allowing South Africa to level the series following which the Proteas went on to win the series.
Questions were asked of KL Rahul’s leadership in the Test series as legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar said the Karnataka star looked like he had run out of ideas when the South Africa batters were involved in big partnerships. India were favourites to win the series after they became the first Asian nation to win a Test in Centurion but it all went downhill from there for the visitors.
India were comfortably outplayed in the ODI series in all three departments as they returned home empty-handed from a tour that promised so much.
“What did you see in Rahul as captaincy material?” Suddenly, they’re saying that they’re grooming him as a future captain. I don’t understand how you can “groom” a captain,” Tiwary told the Sportskeeda.
“A person is either a born leader or he isn’t. Captaincy comes naturally, it’s an inbuilt quality. Grooming a captain is possible, but the process will take a long time. It will take a player around 20 to 25 games to learn about decision-making, but even then success will not be guaranteed. See, every international match is important for India,” he added.
“I’m not blaming Rahul for his captaincy, but I’m disappointed with the selectors, who should identify leadership skills in a player rather than “grooming” a captain. That’s why I want to ask the selectors what they saw in Rahul to make him the captain of India.”
KL Rahul will continue to remain as India’s vice-captain the limited-overs format. The star batter is part of both the ODI and the T20I squads for the West Indies series at home in February. The BCCI announced the squads on Wednesday, naming Rohit Sharma as the captain.
Source : indiatoday