Ambati Rayudu drops hints on 'future captain' in his sensible message to Dravid and co.

The Indian Cricket Team is currently leading in the five-match series race against Australia by a margin of 2-1 after the completion of three matches. In the last match, team India faced a final-over loss in a nailbiting thriller at Guwahati. The overall series till now has been a high-scoring one and in the third T20I India scored a massive 222 runs in the first half, but Maxwell’s excellent 104* run knock sealed the first victory in this series for the Aussies as they managed to chase down the total in the last ball of the match. Despite the loss, team India has a lot of positives to carry forward in the next game, especially in the batting arena. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s tremendous knock of 123 runs in just 57 balls is one of them. 

Previously, the young Indian opener also scored 58 runs off 43 deliveries in the second T20I game. His batting style gained prominence with consistent performances in the domestic circuit and in the Indian T20 League with the Chennai franchise. Now his clinical performance has gained the trust of one of his former teammates who have backed him for a major leadership role.

Veteran cricketer, Ambati Rayudu who had announced his recent retirement from the Indian T20 League, spoke about Gaikwad’s impact in the middle and stated that he is being “under-used” by the management at the moment. The 38-year-old also stated that Gaikwad has the potential to lead the Indian cricket team in the future. 

“For me, (someone) who is being underused by Indian cricket right now is Ruturaj. He has tremendous talent and I think he is the one guy who should be used more,” Rayudu said on a Podcast.

"His greatness is his talent. His timing on the ball, his shots, his fitness, his temperament. He has everything to become a world-class cricketer. He is very, very calm. And he knows what he's doing. He has a silent aggression in him. I think it'll be a great asset for India. Yeah, too early to say.

“Yeah, hopefully you know after Dhoni bhai retires, he will start leading Chennai and then on, I don't know… he might go on to lead India too. He has already led India at the Asian Games,” stated Rayudu.

Under Gaikwad’s captaincy, team India secured a gold medal at the Asian Games in the T20 format. The batsman returns to action on Friday, November 31 when India takes on Australia in the 4th T20I match at Raipur.