The Indian cricket team will soon go through a transition phase. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Mohamamed Shami might soon retire and pave the way for the youngsters to take the baton forward.
While Rohit Sharma is the full-time skipper of India, Hardik Pandya has been captaining India in the T20I format since the completion of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, which took place in Australia.
The senior cricketers like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have been rested from the shortest format of the game as the ICC ODI World Cup will be taking place in this year.
To smoothen the transition phase, we feel Hardik Pandya should be given the white-ball captaincy completely. In this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why Hardik Pandya should be given the white-ball captaincy completely:
1. Age is on Hardik Pandya’s side
While Hardik Pandya is just 29 years of age, Rohit Sharma is 35 years of age and will be soon calling it quits from international cricket. As Pandya still has a lot of cricket left in him, he is the perfect choice for India’s full-time skipper role.
Hardik Pandya can lead a group of youngsters and train and groom them for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which will be taking place in West Indies and USA.
2. Hardik Pandya is a prolific leader
Hardik Pandya has already won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in his maiden year as captain. Skipper Pandya marshalled his troops of Gujarat Titans (GT) to an IPL title in their very first year of existence, in the last IPL.
Pandya also plays freely when he is the captain as he has the liberty of taking decisions. In the 11 T20I matches he has led for Team India, the Gujarat-born cricketer has won 7 matches and has a win percentage of 64%.
3. Rohit Sharma can focus on his batting
One of the vital cogs of Team India, Rohit Sharma is an undisputed monarch of white-ball cricket. He smashed a record 5 centuries in the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 and his form is extremely crucial for India to lift their 2nd ICC ODI World Cup.
If Hardik Pandya takes over the pressure of captaincy, then Rohit Sharma can focus on his batting and play freely. The captaincy pressure will not weigh Sharma down and his batting will be even more fearless and aggressive.
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Reasons Why Rohit Sharma Could Have A Breakout Year
