T20 World Cup 2024: Irfan Pathan picks Hardik Pandya among 4 players ready to replace Rohit Sharma as captain

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has picked Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav as the ones to lead India after Rohit Sharma. 

All 4 of them have been in leadership roles for a lot of times in their careers and every one of them has captained the Indian team.

Jasprit Bumrah led the team most recently during India's tour of Ireland last year while Hardik Pandya had led India in T20Is after T20 World Cup 2022. Suryakumar Yadav also led the Men in Blue last year during India's white-ball leg of the all-format South African tour while Pant had led India in a home series.

Irfan Pathan says there is no one better than Rohit Sharma at the moment 

While speaking to Star Sports exclusively, Irfan Pathan was asked by renowned host Jatin Sapru as to who are the players that can lead team India in the future. Pathan named Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav but admitted that he feels none of them can beat Rohit Sharma in the leadership role. 

"As far as captaincy is concerned, he is the best leader you have. We always talk about the players, but leadership is a totally different thing," Irfan Pathan said via Star Sports. 

Irfan Pathan then stated that the Indian team management will be majorly keeping a close eye on experienced Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. He claimed no doubts about Hardik Pandya, who is the vice-captain of the team. As for Rishabh Pant, Pathan stated that he was already in the mix before he suffered the horrific car crash in December 2022.  

"In the future, they will be keeping an eye on Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah as far as captaincy is concerned. Now we have Hardik Pandya as the Vice Captain, Rishabh Pant is also there in your leadership role group if he gets going because he was there in the leadership role before he got injured. So there are three or four guys who are ready, but Rohit is the number one," Irfan Pathan concluded. 

Can Rohit Sharma lead India to their 2nd T20 World Cup glory? 

Chances are 50-50 for that because the chosen bowling line-up is not that reliable except for one or two names. It is guaranteed that Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav will start but the main problem for Rohit Sharma will be to choose from Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Siraj. 

Both Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh have had identical seasons in the Indian Premier League which has generally been very cruel for the bowlers.

In terms of economy, Arshdeep has it at 10 whereas Siraj is nearly at 10 as well (9.50). In terms of runs conceded, the left-armer (354) is ahead of the right-armer (323). In terms of wickets picked, Arshdeep is ahead with 13 wickets as compared to Siraj who has collected half of what the former has - 6. 

As the saying goes in Cricket -"Batsmen win you games, bowlers win you tournaments". So, will the Indian bowlers ball at the World Cup, or will team India exit another ICC tournament without the trophy? Time will reveal.