Former India head coach Ravi Shastri weighs in with a direct assessment of one of the competition’s top candidates, Hardik Pandya, as the discussion gets underway.
India’s team is in the midst of a format transition. Along with the senior players’ decline, the team will undoubtedly experience a change in leadership with the current all-format skipper Rohit Sharma.
If rumors are true, the phasing out will start after the ODI World Cup, and Rohit may step down as a result. And so, the question arises: Who will succeed the current captain across all formats?
As the discussion gets underway, former India head coach Ravi Shastri offers his blunt assessment of Hardik Pandya.
Since it was still too soon to make the official announcement. Hardik had already returned to the game after a protracted battle with a back injury, Rohit kept playing in all formats.
The opinion of Hardik Pandya as the upcoming captain of India is given by Ravi Shastri
The confidence grew as a result of Hardik’s impressive captaincy abilities in both IPL and India games.
Hardik has already established himself as the only player to succeed Rohit as the World Cup approaches. Is it, however, limited to white-ball cricket?
Even though he has had a stellar performance in T20Is and ODIs, Hardik has not played in a Test match since his last one in 2018.
And despite the fact that the majority of veterans have been hoping for his return to red-ball cricket, Hardik has not said anything as of yet.
Shastri was prompt with his response when The Week directly questioned him about whether Hardik can also captain the team in Test matches.
Despite giving the all-rounder his full support for the white-ball captaincy, he explained that Hardik’s body cannot support the longer format.
“His body cannot handle Test cricket. This needs to be made very clear. He should take over as captain of the white-ball cricket team after the World Cup, if his body is physically capable of doing so”, he said.
“The seasoned Indian cricketer also believed that it was time for India to start replacing its senior players with a younger group that was more capable of competing on a global level.”
“There are young people who are prepared to replace the seniors. Regarding T20 cricket, there is no doubt. Less in Tests and even less in 50-over cricket”, he claimed.
“White-ball players of the highest caliber and youth are in great supply thanks to the IPL. However, one shouldn’t take this too far and assume they should be red-ball options without any thought.”
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