There has been growing discussion among seasoned cricketers and experts that Hardik Pandya is the best choice to succeed Rohit Sharma as the next captain of the Indian team because the all-rounder has impressed the team’s selectors after serving as captain during the IPL 2022 and the subsequent T20I series against Ireland and New Zealand. Gautam Gambhir, a former cricketer for India, supports the idea of Hardik assuming the reins but adds another name to the list of potential future leaders by making a pretty unorthodox selection.
Hardik was never a candidate to take over as captain of India. KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah were the candidates that were considered to succeed Rohit as captain earlier this year. But after leading Gujarat Titans to a stunning IPL title win in his first ever term as captain in any event, Hardik’s name unexpectedly shot to the top of the list. Before continuing his winning streak in the New Zealand series earlier this month, he guided India to a 2-0 whitewash on their visit of Ireland.
Gambhir said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Sunday. “Hardik Pandya obviously is in line. But that’s going to be unfortunate for Rohit because I think judging his captaincy in only one ICC event is not the right way to probably judge him.”
However, according to Gambhir, Prithvi Shaw, a young player, is also one of the candidates to captain India. The batter, though, has struggled to remain a consistent member of the Indian team while simultaneously serving a 2019 drug suspension and dealing with physical fitness difficulties. He actually last appeared for India in July 2021, when a reserve Indian team travelled to Sri Lanka.
He added, “The reason I’ve picked Prithvi Shaw, I know a lot of people talk about his off-field activities, but that is what the job of the coach and the selectors are. The selectors’ job isn’t just to pick the 15, but also to get people walk the right path. Prithvi Shaw is one I feel can be a very aggressive captain, a very successful captain because you see that aggression in the way a person plays the sport.”
Shaw has served as captain before, most notably in 2018 when he led the Indian U-19 team to a World Cup victory.
