Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has supported Hardik Pandya to be Team India’s full-time T20I captain. Notably, the Indian team management is going towards the prospect of a split captaincy considering Rohit Sharma’s workload management and busy cricketing schedule as well.
However, Rashid Khan has fond memories of playing under Hardik’s captaincy. He was part of the Gujarat Titans (GT) squad that won the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy under the all-rounder’s captaincy in their maiden season earlier this year as well.
While talking about that Hardik Pandya is a perfect option to take over from Rohit as Team India’s T20I captain, Rashid Khan told IANS:
“Pandya is a fantastic player. I think he deserves to be captain of the national side. I have played under him. I will be more than happy if he is made permanent captain of the India T20 side. It is difficult to manage players and he understands it so well and did his job brilliantly in the IPL.
“I will be more than happy if he gets that chance. And I wish him all the best for that, also I am waiting to be part of Gujarat Titans again next year and play under him.”
Hardik Pandya did well as Team India’s captain against New Zealand
However, the leg-spinner had a stunning season playing under Hardik in IPL where he claimed 19 wickets across the campaign as well. Moreover, he led India for the first time during the tour of Ireland in July 2022 as well and also in the recently concluded series against New Zealand, where he guided Team India to a 1-0 win also.
However, after having positive feedback from former Indian players Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar, the veteran all-rounder said:
“If people are saying, you feel good about it) but till something happens officially, you can’t say. To be honest, my thing is simple, if I do one match or one series, I will lead the team my way, how I see and perceive the game. Whenever I am given the opportunity, I will always go out and play the brand of cricket I know. As a unit, we will display my brand. As far as whatever (captaincy) comes in future, we will see.”
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