India has done well under Rohit Sharma in the recent ICC white-ball tournaments, snagging the T20 World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. While Rohit has said he’ll continue playing ODIs, it’s still unclear if he’ll stick around for the 2027 World Cup. Former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has suggested a new direction for the captaincy. He feels Hardik Pandya would be a great choice. “To me, Hardik is my pick for white-ball captain. There are others, but he stands out,” Kapil said in an interview with MyKhel at a PGTI pro-am event in Greater Noida.
Kapil noted that Hardik is young and could build a solid team for future ICC events. Hardik was India’s vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is when Rahul Dravid was the coach. But since Gautam Gambhir took over, Hardik hasn’t had an official leadership role, partly due to concerns about his fitness and availability. Now, Suryakumar Yadav has been named the permanent T20I captain, and Shubman Gill serves as the vice-captain for ODIs.
Kapil added that ideally, Hardik should play in Test cricket too. Since he’s currently not playing, India may need different captains for the three formats. Interestingly, Hardik leads Rohit, Suryakumar, and Test vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL team Mumbai Indians. However, his captaincy there has been a mixed bag. He first led the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, achieving great success with one title and another run to the finals. But his time with Mumbai Indians has not been as fortunate, with the team finishing last in 2024.