'I think it's very early for the selectors...' - Former India selector makes audacious claim on Shubman Gill's Captaincy

While millions of people cheered the Rohit Sharma-led Team India's T20 World Cup 2024 victory in the streets of Mumbai on Thursday, the young bunch of the Men in Blue had been training hard in the net in preparation for a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe that commences on July 6 at the Harare Sports Club. The BCCI has gone ahead with a bevy of new faces, namely CSK star bowler Tushar Deshpande, SRH opening batter Abhishek Sharma, and RR middle-order batter Riyan Parag, among others, for this tour. Meanwhile, GT skipper Shubman Gill will be handling the new T20I team in Zimbabwe with head coach VVS Laxman.

After India's historic T20 World Cup victory, Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20 international cricket. However, it is uncertain who the BCCI will be choosing as its next captain, with vice captain Hardik Pandya seeming to be the clear frontrunner to take over the full-time role. In talking about Hardik Pandya's abilities as India's T20I captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement, former Indian cricketer Saba Karim claimed that it is obvious that the top T20I all-rounder is the most right fit for the role given his experience leading the national team in the shortest format.

"Potential yes but at this stage I think it's very early for the selectors to actually decide who can be the captain in the years to come. There are a number of aspirants, Hardik Pandya right now is the vice-captain and I think with Rohit's departure, it is more obvious that Pandya will take up the reins," Saba Karim said on SportsNow.

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I think the Indian selectors have always looked at Shubman Gill as an all-format player: Saba Karim

Though Shubman Gill has been selected by the BCCI for the Zimbabwe tour, Karim, the former national selector, pointed out that it's too early to give a leadership role to Shubman Gill. In addition, the 56-year-old cricketer stated that the BCCI team has always seen Shubman Gill as the three format player rather than the captain of the Indian cricket team. However, the former wicketkeeper batter admitted that BCCI might have felt that the young cricketer possessed few leadership qualities to take the team forward, which allowed them to make Gill the skipper for the upcoming series set to start on July 6 at Harare.

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"But yes, I think the Indian selectors have always looked at Shubman Gill as an all-format player and they feel he does have the required leadership skills to take the team forward, that is why this Zimbabwe series will be quite exciting for Gill not as a batter but also as a captain," he further added.

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