IPL 2024: Ambati Rayudu snubs Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya as he backs this IPL skipper to lead India in future

Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu opened up about the next potential candidate to lead Team India. He backed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad to take the role as he believes that the youngster has rapidly improved in the last 3-4 years.

The emergence of the young leaders in the ongoing 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 for their respective franchises.

With Rohit Sharma at the fag end of his career, Indian Team will be needing fresh blood to captain the team. With the kind of impact all the players have made in the league, it's fair to say that the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands and they all will be under reckoning for the leadership role for India.

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 contention for the playoffs.

Ambati Rayudu while talking about the future of the Indian captaincy claimed that Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a fantastic cricketer and pointed out that the young batter doesn't even need suggestions from MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming. He added that the young skipper is taking 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 rapidly improved in the last 3-4 years. It has not been long since he started playing in the IPL. From there to lead a franchise that has been led by a legend. Even on the ground, you do not see MS Dhoni giving so many suggestions.

"Ruturaj is taking a lot of calls. There should be a lot of credit given to him, even with MS Dhoni behind the stumps. He does not feel the need to explain everything to MS Dhoni or Stephan Fleming."

He has the freedom to take the call himself - Ambati Rayudu on Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ambati Rayudu further talked about the leadership skills of Ruturaj Gaikwad, saying that the Chennai Super Kings batter has the freedom to take the calls. He pointed out that he won the Asian Games as captain and will be captaining India soon. He added:

"He has the freedom to take the call himself. That is a great trait. He has won the Asian Games gold medal as captain. I am sure there will be a day when we talk about him leading India."

The transition from MS Dhoni to Ruturaj Gaikwad in the Chennai Super Kings has been smooth. The young batter has led the team fantastically well. Under his leadership, they are 3rd on the points table with 14 points to their name. They need just one win to qualify for the playoffs.