'He is being under-used by Indian cricket': Rayudu drops 'future captain' hint in crucial message to Dravid and co.

Team India is currently leading the five-match T20I series against Australia 2-1 after three games, having conceded a dramatic final over loss in their last match in Guwahati. It has been a high-scoring series and in the third T20I, India put up a mammoth score of 222/3 as well; however, Glenn Maxwell's brilliant 104* ensured Australia chased down the target on the last ball of the match. Despite the loss, a glaring positive for India was Ruturaj Gaikwad's aggressive knock; he did start slow – Gaikwad had 21 runs off as many deliveries after the 10th over – but picked pace as the innings progressed, eventually staying unbeaten on 123 off just 57 balls.

Gaikwad had smashed 58 off 43 deliveries in the second T20I as well, largely playing second-fiddle to the more attacking Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, and captain Suryakumar Yadav. The batter gained stature with consistent performances in domestic circuit and in the Indian Premier League with Chennai Super Kings, and now, one of his former teammate from the franchise has backed Gaikwad for a major leadership role.

Ambati Rayudu, who had recently announced his retirement from IPL, spoke about Gaikwad's composure in the middle and stated that he is being “under-used” by Indian cricket at the moment. The former India batter also claimed Gaikwad has the qualities to lead the national team as well.

“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 the The TRS 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 CSK and then on, I don't know… he might go on to lead India too. He has already led India at the Asian Games,” said Rayudu.

Under Gaikwad, India secured a gold medal at the Asian Games in T20 format. The batter returns to action on Friday when India take on Australia in the fourth T20I in Raipur.