The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team produced an impeccable performance in the recently concluded 4-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, winning the series by a 2-1 lead.
Captain Rohit led the team from the front as he registered a stunning century in the series opener in Nagpur as India won the first Test by an inning and 132 runs. Pumped up with the win, India rose to the occasion in Delhi, where they defeated Australia by 6 wickets to take an unassailable lead in the series.
With the 4-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy done and dusted, all the focus has now shifted to the upcoming 3-match ODI series against Australia. Ahead of the series, India received a major blow as Shreyas Iyer might not be available for the 50-over clashes after complaints of back pain, which also forced him to stay out of the last Test match in Ahmedabad.
Not just this, after guiding India to a stellar win in the BGT, Indian captain Rohit Sharma will be unavailable for the 1st ODI due to family commitments. Rohit’s deputy Hardik Pandya will lead India in the series opener at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
Sunil Gavaskar’s Bold Claim About Rohit Sharma’s Successor
Meanwhile, former Indian captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar went on to make a bold claim regarding the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. Gavaskar feels that it is just a matter of time before Pandya takes over the role of captain entirely. He said:
“What you see with Hardik Pandya as a captain is a sense of comfort with the rest of the team. Maybe, it’s the way he handles the players, puts his arm around the players… He just seems to give the players a sense of comfort. That’s so important to give a player a sense of comfort so that he can go and play his natural game. I think he encourages them, which is a wonderful sign,”
He added: “The fact that he can be an impact player as well as a game changer in the middle order. Even for the Gujarat team, he was promoting himself up the order knowing that this is the time when the team needed some momentum and push, and he would do that. So, someone who is prepared to take on responsibility, lead from the front, and who will not ask the players to do something that he doesn’t want to do himself, is highly crucial. So, when the players know that he’s just not putting us over there because he doesn’t want to be there, that he’s gone through the fire and he wants us to go through the fire. So, that’s the key as far as Hardik Pandya is concerned.”
Further, Gavaskar heaped praises on Pandya’s captaincy. Pandya has impressed one and all with the way he led Gujarat Titans and also Team India on several occasions in Rohit Sharma’s absence. Talking about his captaincy, Gavaskar said:
“He has been an impressive captain. I have been very impressed with his captaincy at the T20 level for the Gujarat Titans and for India when he is captaining the T20 side. I do believe that if he wins the first game in Mumbai, then you can almost stamp him as the India captain once the World Cup is over in 2023.”
