ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma vs Hardik Pandya, Who'll Be Captain In WC? Deep Dasgupta Answers

In a recent interview with Star Sports, former Indian cricketer turned pundit Deep Dasgupta made a bold claim about India’s captain for the upcoming edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in June in the USA & West Indies. Dasgupta believes that Rohit Sharma will be the one to lead the Indian team instead of Hardik Pandya, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the CWC 2023 group stages.

Pandya has found it difficult to make a comeback to competitive cricket as his ankle injury is causing too many problems for him. Whenever he is touted to return, fresh setbacks keep on blocking his way. After his absence from the 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan was confirmed, the BCCI announced Rohit Sharma as the captain.

And that is the main reason why Deep Dasgupta believes that Hardik Pandya will have to wait a bit longer to captain India in a major tournament. He emphasized on the fact that captaincy plays a much bigger role in the shortest format as compared to the longer formats (ODIs and Tests).

He cryptically took a dig at Pandya by naming Rohit Sharma ahead of Hardik Pandya, believing that the former is not well prepared to lead the team in an ICC tournament as of now.

“The important thing is that this format (T20) is captain based. The amount of importance that the captain has in this format is not as crucial in other formats. So in a way you can assume or probably say that Rohit Sharma is almost certain to lead India during the T20 World Cup because if Hardik was to lead the team then BCCI might have looked for another captaincy option in the T20 series against Afghanistan. But when you already made Rohit the captain for this series, I feel it is almost fixed that he will be leading the side in the WC.” – Deep Dasgupta said. 

Dasgupta Backs Virat Kohli To Score 500 Runs In IPL While Rohit Sharma To Play A Different Role

Deep Dasgupta believes Rohit Sharma will be the one leading India at the 2024 World Cup.pic.twitter.com/6vaijuHGs4

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 10, 2024

Deep Dasgupta was also asked about how important the upcoming IPL edition will be for both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Dasgupta claimed that their performance in the IPL cannot decide their futures given their massive size and contribution to the Indian team.

But Dasgupta also claimed that Kohli is certain to score at least 500 runs in IPL 2024, stating that he can do so even in his worst season. He also said that it will be interesting to see how Rohit Sharma will operate for Mumbai Indians in a season where he will not be the captain for the first time since 2013.

Meanwhile, India’s 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan starts from tomorrow with the opening match taking place in Punjab’s Mohali cricket ground.