India are on the cusp of two major T20I events in the next seven months.
Like a few other teams, the Indian cricket team is also slowly entering into the transition phase. After the retirements of stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from two formats of the game, the questions suddenly overweighed the answers. Shubman Gill was made the Test skipper. With Suryakumar Yadav at the helm in the shortest format of the game, the captaincy surrounding the 50-over format remains unspoken about, for the future.
Whether Rohit Sharma, who is the current skipper in the ODI format can lead the team till the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in 2027 is still unclear. There were multiple reports suggesting that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was looking at Shubman Gill as his successor for an all-format captain. But the management has brushed those reports off, stating that the call around ODIs will be taken at a later stage.
The Indians have believed in the ‘all formats one captain’ method for quite some time. This is one of the first instances where the team has three different captains for three formats. Shubman Gill’s age is on his side, which was one of the main factors for trusting him with the responsibility of leading in Test cricket. Additionally, Suryakumar Yadav’s stint as a T20I captain has been fruitful for India till now. But a lot will depend on the Asia Cup 2025 and the T20 World Cup next year.
However, former India all-rounder Suresh Raina has expressed his belief in Hardik Pandya as a good leader in the white-ball formats.
The Indian all-rounder spoke in favour of Hardik Pandya as the next white-ball skipper for the Blues. Captaincy is not a new thing for the former Gujarat Titans skipper. Not only has Pandya led the Titans, he has also helped them lift the title in their very first year. Furthermore, Hardik took GT into the Final in the subsequent year as well, in which they lost to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Provided his experience as the skipper with GT and the Mumbai Indians (MI) now, he can surely be in contention for a captaincy role for India.
Suresh Raina went a notch ahead and compared Hardik to the likes of MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev. Raina felt that the current Indian all-rounder shows a glimpse of MS Dhoni when he leads a team. He also stated that the MI skipper has an outstanding experience in all the three departments of the game, which will make a case for his captaincy role.
Hardik has led the Mumbai Indians for two seasons, after being bought back by the franchise. He faced a lot of criticism for replacing Rohit Sharma as the captain in 2024. But the franchise qualified for the playoffs under his leadership in the recent season. They were taken down by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Qualifier 2 of the tournament. According to Raina, Hardik’s calm demeanour is what makes him a good candidate for the leadership role.
“I think Hardik Pandya will do a lot of miracles in white-ball cricket as a captain. Hopefully he can become the captain again. He has a lot of experience like Kapil Paaji [Kapil Dev], and is a very positive guy. I see a glimpse of MS Dhoni in him, the way he interacts with players on the field”, said Raina in the podcast.
ALSO READ:
The Indian duo has retired from two formats of the game. After hanging their boots from the shortest format, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket as well. However, there have been a lot of speculations about whether they will play the ODI World Cup in 2027. Though the BCCI has denied entertaining any speculations at this stage, the discussions remain the point of attraction.
Upon being asked about whether the duo should play the ODI World Cup in 2027, Suresh Raina had a clear answer. He gave his opinion, stating that the duo should make it to the coveted event in 2027. Their experience and style of play will help the Indians carve their way out of difficult situations. Raina also stated that they won the ICC Champions Trophy recently, and that both of them are actively practicing. However, the final decision will rest with the selectors.
“Ro-Ko should play the World Cup because they won the Champions Trophy. They have a lot of experience and you know Rohit will play domestics. He is already practicing. All depends on the selectors, so as to what team they are forming” Raina concluded.
