IPL 2021: KL Rahul lacks the leadership qualities to be India's next captain: Ajay Jadeja

Ajay Jadeja believes KL Rahul lacks the rudimentary "leadership qualities" to succeed Virat Kohli as India's next T20 captain.

The former Indian batsman, in an interaction with Cricbuzz on Sunday, explained that KL Rahul hasn't displayed the aura of a leader around him, irrespective of his team Punjab Kings' on-field performances in the past two years.

Ajay Jadeja also argued that the Karnataka batsman is more of an accommodative personality, a trait that offers longetitivity but deprieves him of a standout philosophy. He said:

"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."

Ajay Jadeja added that there's a "huge difference" between leading an IPL and a national team, with the latter requiring a more distinct credo and macro management. He added:

"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)."

So far, KL Rahul has led PBKS in 25 IPL games, winning 11 and losing 14 with a win record of 44%. In both seasons that Rahul has led, PBKS have finished sixth in the points table. They are currently placed fifth and fighting for fourth spot against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Sharjah.

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"KL Rahul has not taken any responsibility upon himself" - Ajay Jadeja

Ajay Jadeja, who played 15 Tests and 196 ODIs for India, also noted that while KL Rahul exudes the calmness of MS Dhoni's comparison, he hasn't taken much responsibility on his shoulders and has let 'others' run the PBKS team.

Ajay Jadeja concluded by saying:

"I don't know him personally and you see a different version of him too, but generally when he's on the ground, he has the calmness like MS Dhoni. There are good things too but the biggest thing is that you need to be a leader. People should be debating your decisions, 'Why is he doing this or that?'. That never happens to him, even in an IPL team, because he has not taken any responsibility upon himself, letting others run the team."

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KL Rahul has been PBKS' top scorer this season. Now with RCB having set a challenging total of 164 in Sharjah, the onus will once again lie on him to give them a good start.