Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu has spoken about the next potential candidate to lead the Indian team. He has backed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to take over as he believes the youngster has improved rapidly in the last 3-4 years.

The emergence of young leaders in the current Indian Premier League has been magnificent, considering the future of Indian cricket. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Shubham Gill and others have done tremendously well in their respective franchises.

With Rohit Sharma at the end of his career, the Indian team will need fresh blood to captain the team. With the kind of impact all the players have had in the league, it is fair to say that the future of Indian cricket is in good hands and all of them will be under consideration for India’s leadership role.

While Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson have been superior as captains of Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant and Shubham Gill have done a decent job and their teams are still in the playoff hunt.

Ambati Rayudu, while talking about the future of Indian captaincy, stated that Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a fantastic cricketer and pointed out that the young batsman doesn’t even need suggestions from MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming. He added that the young captain is receiving a lot of calls and deserves credit for it. Speaking to Starsports, he explained:

“I think Ruturaj has been a fantastic cricketer first. He has improved rapidly in the last 3-4 years. It hasn’t been long since he started playing in the IPL. From there, I led a franchise that has been run by a legend. Even on the field, MS Dhoni is not seen giving so many suggestions.

“Ruturaj is getting a lot of calls. We should give him a lot of credit, even with MS Dhoni behind the stumps. He doesn’t feel the need to explain everything to MS Dhoni or Stephan Fleming.”

He is free to take the call himself – Ambati Rayudu on Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ambati Rayudu further spoke about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s leadership skills and said that the Chennai Super Kings batsman has the freedom to take the decisions. He pointed out that he won the Asian Games as captain and will soon be the captain of India. He added:

“He has the freedom to take the decision himself. That’s a great trait. He has won the Asian Games gold medal as captain. I am sure the day will come when we talk about him as the leader of India.”

The transition from MS Dhoni to Ruturaj Gaikwad at Chennai Super Kings has been smooth. The young batsman has led the team fantastically. Under his leadership, they occupy third place in the points table with 14 points to his name. They only need one win to qualify for the playoffs.