Hardik Pandya Likely To Become The Next T20I Captain Of India, Know 3 Reasons Why He Might Be Rohit’s Replacement
Hardik Pandya next T20I captain of India: Now that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from the T20 International along with veteran Virat Kohli following India’s T20 World Cup victory, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now in search of players to name a new full-time captain for the T20I squad. However, a buzz is on that all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely be picked up by the board.
The first reason why Pandia could be Rohit’s replacement is that in Rohit’s absence, he had captained 16 matches for the country and won 10 of it.
The second reason is that under his captaincy, the Gujarat Titans (GT) had won their first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy in 2022 and finished runners-up in 2023.
However, Pandia faced several criticisms in 2024 edition of the IPL after he joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) and replaced Rohit Sharma as captain. More importantly, there was rumored that his wife Natasa Stankovic was divorcing him and he reportedly faced some crucial financial crisis.
In an interview post India’s impressive victory over South Africa, Pandia said “Many things were told about me. But I did not say even a single word. Because I knew that if I kept working hard I could shine and do what I could do.”
Pandya played a very vital role by claiming the massive wickets of David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen and helped India came back from the very jaws of defeat to script their World Cup-winning display. He bowled the final over when South Africa needed 16 runs. However, he managed to defend and helped India win by 7 runs.
The third reason is that BCCI Secretary Jay Shah also has hinted at him as being Rohit’s replacement. However, the name of the new 20I fulltime captain will be announced only after meeting with the selectors. “The captain will be announced, after consulting with the selectors. Regarding Hardik, there were concerns about his form, but we and the selectors maintained our faith in him, and he ultimately validated that trust,” the crictoday.com quoted Shah as saying.
