'Virat Kohli looks disconnected; there is a division': Kaneria slams India's poor show, says 'Rahul not ready to lead'

India's ongoing tour of South Africa has been riddled with poor performances, controversies, and a lot of tension. Hardly anything has gone right for the Rahul Dravid-coached side as the 'Men in Blue' have been defeated in the ODI series after conceding the Test series 2-1 to the Proteas. Moreover, before the start of the white-ball series, Virat Kohli surprisingly stepped down as the nation's Test captain. Danish Kaneria, while analyzing the performance, has stated that all is not well within the camp.

By winning the second ODI by seven wickets on Friday, the hosts have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Earlier on Wednesday, they had beaten the KL Rahul-led side by 31 runs in the first game.

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Rahul, as a captain, has come under heavy scrutiny for his decision-making and team selection. Several pundits and former cricketers believe Rahul is not ready yet and the latest person to jump on the bandwagon is former Pakistan spinner Kaneria.

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Kaneria talked about Kohli's attitude and body language, and also made a comment on Rahul's leadership in the ongoing India-South Africa ODI series.

"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.

"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," elaborated Kaneria.

The third and final ODI will take place on Sunday, January 23 in Cape Town and the visitors would look to avoid a whitewash.

india vs south africa danish kaneria virat kohli kl rahul

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Orange Cap in IPL 2025, Purple Cap in IPL 2025 , and IPL Points Table 2025 – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, IPL match previews, and in-depth coverage of IPL 2025 and IPL Match Today along with KKR vs CSK Live on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news.

News / Cricket News / 'Virat Kohli looks disconnected; there is a division': Kaneria slams India's poor show, says 'Rahul not ready to lead'

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