Asia Cup 2023: Jasprit Bumrah Might Replace Hardik Pandya As Rohit Sharma's Deputy For Asia Cup, World Cup - Reports

According to the recent reports in PTI, India National Cricket Team premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah might replace Hardik Pandya as the deputy of Rohit Sharma in ODIs ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and Asia Cup 2023.

Hardik Pandya has been serving as India’s captain in T20Is since the last T20 World Cup and he was also named the deputy of Rohit Sharma in ODIs. The all-rounder was trusted for a leadership role in the Indian team following his success with Gujarat Titans (GT) in his first season as skipper in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

However, Pandya’s captaincy recently came under scrutiny after India’s T20I series defeat against West Indies. Several decisions made by the all-rounder were criticized by fans and experts with many claiming that the presence of Ashish Nehra at Gujarat Titans was the reason behind Pandya’s leadership success in IPL.

Don’t be surprised if you see Jasprit Bumrah being made ODI deputy to Rohit Sharma – Source

Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah made his comeback to competitive cricket after a long wait of 327 days in the first T20I of the three-match series against Paul Stirling-led Ireland National Cricket Team at the Malahide in Dublin on Friday, August 18.

Bumrah, who is leading the Indian team in Ireland’s T20Is, is set to give tough competition to Pandya for the vice-captaincy role ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup.

A BCCI source speaking to PTI said that Bumrah is ahead of Pandya in terms of leadership seniority as he has already captained India’s Test team and was vice-captain before the all-rounder.

“If you look in terms of leadership seniority, Bumrah is ahead of Pandya as he captained the Test team in 2022. He has also been ODI vice-captain before Pandya during the ODI tour of South Africa.”

The BCCI source further said that Bumrah being handed captaincy in the Ireland T20Is could be an indication that he might become Rohit’s deputy for Asia Cup and World Cup.

“Don’t be surprised if you see Bumrah being made ODI deputy to Rohit for both Asia Cup and World Cup. There is a reason why he was handed captaincy in Ireland instead of Ruturaj,” a BCCI source in know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.