India’s next T20 captain revealed

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely to take over as India’s T20I captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, who announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game after leading the team to victory in the T20 World Cup 2024.

According to Indian media reports, Pandya’s exceptional performance in the mega-event has earned him the top spot, with Jasprit Bumrah set to be named vice-captain.

Pandya’s heroics in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa, where he bowled the last over and removed Heinrich Klaasen have not gone unnoticed.

While the names of Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav were also considered for the top spot, Pandya has emerged as the favorite to lead the team in the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka. The move is seen as a long-term strategy to prepare Pandya for the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

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Rohit Sharma, who has been India’s captain in the T20 format since 2021, will continue to lead the team in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 and the Champions Trophy 2025.

Recently, Jay Shah, Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has expressed confidence in Sharma’s ability to lead the team to victory in these tournaments.

Under Sharma’s captaincy, India has made it to the WTC 2021-23 final and the ODI World Cup 2023 final, although they lost to Australia on both occasions.

Sharma recently ended India’s 11-year-long ICC trophy drought and guided them to a T20 World Cup win when the Blues defeated South Africa in a thrilling final in Bridgetown.