"At the end of the day..." - Anjum Chopra's no-nonsense verdict on presence of multiple captains in Team India

Former Indian women's cricketer Anjum Chopra recently opened up about having multiple captaincy options in the men's cricket team. Anjum Chopra highlighted that world champions, the Men in Blue, are fortunate to have multiple leaders and match-winners in their team, describing it as a good thing.

Rohit Sharma was the all-format captain of the Indian team before retiring from T20I cricket last month. Rohit announced his retirement from the format after leading the team to a trophy in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue defeated South Africa in a closely fought encounter in Barbados on June 29.

The 37-year-old became the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to win a World Cup. Rohit is the only cricketer to be part of India's two T20 World Cup winning campaigns in 2007 and 2024. It was Rohit's first ICC trophy after losing to Australia in the finals of the WTC and ODI World Cup last year.

We Have Match Winners In Our Team - Anjum Chopra

In an interview with MyKhel.com, Anjum Chopra pointed out that Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shubman Gill have all previously led the Indian team. Anjum added that Sanju Samson has experience leading the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL.

"At the end of the day, I think now, because we are world champions, we have match winners in our team, we have captains in our team. Imagine we have Surya, we have Rishabh, we have Hardik, we have Shubman, we have Bumrah. We have five which we can count clearly. Sanju if he makes it to the team. But at least we have five who have led the Indian team. So at least we have that option, and people have taken responsibility leading India. So that matters and is a good thing," Anjum Chopra said.

Hardik Pandya led the Indian T20I team after the semi-final toss against England in the T20 World Cup 2022. Pandya suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup 2023, which led to nearly six months of absence from international cricket. Suryakumar Yadav led the team in a couple of series in Hardik's absence.

Rohit Sharma returned to lead the Indian T20I team against Afghanistan earlier this year. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah confirmed that Rohit will lead the team in the T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit's retirement opened up chances for youngsters to take over the charge of the T20I team.

The selection committee named Shubman Gill as captain of the second-string team for the recent five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Gill guided the team to a dominant 4-1 victory despite losing the first match. The selectors and head coach, Gautam Gambhir, are likely to finalize India's T20I captain soon.

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