India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to take over the captaincy of the Indian cricket team in the white-ball format as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been contemplating the move in the recent past. This would also bring the curtains down for the current captain Rohit Sharma in the shortest format.
Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli after the T20 World Cup 2021, however, Rohit has failed to lead the Indian side to victory in two of the biggest tournaments — Asia Cup 2022 and T20 World Cup 2022. Though team India managed to go past the Super 12 stage in Australia but the Men in Blue was knocked out in the semi-final stage of the marquee tournament. He has also come under the scanner for his captaincy and fitness. His fitness has become a matter of concern in the past year. He has missed many matches due to fitness issues and isn’t part of the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh either.
Meanwhile, the BCCI’s top officials have discussed the plan with Hardik, who has sought some time to respond to the line of thought from the Indian board. The BCCI is currently waiting to hear if he can play both formats or not.
“The BCCI has this plan and has discussed it with him. The all-rounder has asked for some days to respond. Let’s see what he thinks of it. No decision has been taken regards with this but yes we are in the thought process to give him the captaincy of white-ball cricket. Let’s see how things go further,” the top source said.
Hardik Pandya Made An Inspirational Comeback
Hardik Pandya’s comeback story in 2022 has been nothing short of an inspiration. The star all-rounder overcame recurring back injury woes to lead Gujarat Titans to an IPL win in their first attempt in the T20 league and then there were no turning backs for the star cricketer. Hardik continued his purple patch as he made a comeback on the Indian national side and impressed everyone with his all-around show.
Pandya has been given the opportunity to lead the Indian cricket team to 4 wins in 5 T20Is in Rohit’s absence. However, he has never led a team in List A cricket. Impressed with his consistent performances and captaincy skills, several former cricketers and experts have backed him for the captaincy role. The Indian cricket team will next hit the field against Sri Lanka on January 3 and the squads for the series will be announced soon.
