After India suffered a harrowing seven-wicket defeat to South Africa in the second ODI in Paarl on Friday, former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has stated that KL Rahul is not yet ready to lead the team. Kaneria further added that Virat Kohli looks distant and disconnected from the team.

South Africa handed a resounding seven-wicket defeat to India in the second ODI in Paarl on Friday, and claimed the series 2-0, with the last fixture to be played on Sunday in Cape Town. Earlier, ahead of the ODI matches, India suffered a 1-2 defeat against South Africa in the three-match Test series. 

Soon after India went down to South Africa by 1-2 in the Test series, Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s captain in the longest format of the game. KL Rahul, who led India in the Johannesburg Test in the absence of Kohli, is leading the Men in Blue in the three-match ODI series, and the Karnataka-born batsman’s captaincy welcomed a lot of criticism after the visitors lost the first two white-ball matches against the Proteas. 

Rahul’s team selection, and field placements at crucial junctures of the match opened doors for fuming debates among cricket fans and experts. India made no changes to the squad from the first ODI, which they lost by 31 runs. Several pundits also opined that Team India is not showing the same intensity that they displayed under the leadership of Kohli.

Meanwhile, Danish Kaneria stated that there is no intensity in KL Rahul’s captaincy, and the Indian opener is not yet ready to lead Team India. The former Pakistan spinner further added that Kohli looks distant and disconnected from the team.  

“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,”  Kaneria said on his YouTube channel. 

“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,” he added. 

The third and final ODI between India and South Africa will be played on Sunday, January 23 in Cape Town