IND vs AFG: "Hardik Pandya Won't Be The Captain Of India's T20 World Cup Team, Rohit Sharma To Lead.."- Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra doesn’t feel that Hardik Pandya will be appointed as the Indian skipper for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 due to his fitness issues. Hardik Pandya has yet to make a return to competitive cricket since suffering an ankle injury in India’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 clash against Bangladesh. It is reported that he is unavailable for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan and will directly feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Hardik Pandya has been leading the side in T20Is since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2022 as BCCI advised Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to focus more on Test and ODIs. However, since his injury, the T20I squad has been led by Suraykumar Yadav who was appointed as Hardik’s deputy in the absence of the two experienced campaigners. Hardik Pandya will also lead the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024.
Aakash Chopra opined in a video on his YouTube channel that Hardik Pandya’s fitness concerns might take him out of contention for the captain’s role in the upcoming T20 World Cup. He elaborated, “Hardik will probably not be the captain because there is an issue regarding fitness. You are not playing currently. You twisted your ankle in the World Cup. You are not playing the Afghanistan series and you don’t play Tests in any case, so you will straightaway play the IPL. It’s going against him.”
The reputed commentator expects Rohit Sharma to lead India at the T20 megaevent despite the team’s underwhelming batting performances under his captaincy in the last edition. Aakash Chopra said, “I feel Rohit Sharma will be doing T20I captaincy and will also be the captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup. If you had asked this question after the 2022 T20 World Cup, it was almost certain he wouldn’t be the captain, considering the way the team performed as we were scoring 60 runs in the first 10 overs.”
Aakash Chopra Believes Rohit Sharma Can Lead The Side Again After Disappointing 2022 T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra noted that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul were India’s top three in the 2022 World Cup and that they played run a ball against almost every opposition. He acknowledged that if a call had been made during that time then some of the big names would have been dropped immediately from the squad because of the poor performance in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul have made their comeback with their performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. He explained, “However, the time elapsed and none of these players played T20Is for India. The ODI World Cup happened, where you played very well and reached the final. Rohit Sharma gave explosive starts, Virat Kohli was the Player of the Tournament, and KL Rahul did an amazing job down the order.”
The former India opener reckons India’s side for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will be a bit identical to the team that played in the last edition of the tournament. Aakash Chopra stated, “Suddenly you say that everyone is doing well. So I feel, giving weightage to the recent form, it will be an almost identical team. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be there and I won’t be surprised if KL Rahul is also there.”
The T20 World Cup is scheduled to commence on June 1 and India will play their first game on June 5 against Canada. The marquee clash between India and Pakistan will be played on June 9 in New York where a stadium is supposed to be constructed with a 34,000 seating capacity. The squad for the T20 World Cup will be announced during the IPL and most likely consist of a mix of some new players and experienced campaigners. It is a huge relief for Team India that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made themselves available for the tournament.
