IND vs ENG: Harbhajan Singh Wants Gujarat Titans Duo; Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra To Become T20I Captain, Coach Of India

Former India National Cricket Team off-spinner Harbhajan Singh wants the Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya to take over as the T20I captain of Team India and he also wants the GT head coach Ashish Nehra to join India’s T20I coaching staff.

The Men In Blue got eliminated from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 after facing a humiliating 10-wicket defeat against England at the Adelaide Oval in the second semi-final.

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The next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be the 9th edition of the tournament, will be held in 2024 in the West Indies and the United States. The marquee tournament is still two years away and India will most likely enter the tournament with a new captain as Rohit Sharma is already 35-year-old.

Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh has said that there is “no better choice” than Hardik Pandya for India’s T20I captaincy. He added that India should hire coaches for the T20Is from players who have recently retired and understand the format better.

“It’s not just the captain. If you can bring someone who has just retired from T20 cricket recently, someone who understands the format,” Harbhajan told India Today.

“You know, with all due respect to Rahul Dravid, he was my colleague and we played a lot of cricket together, he has a great brain. But I think if you don’t want to remove Dravid from T20I as a coach then help him with someone who has recently retired.

“Someone like Ashish Nehra who has got a great cricketing brain. Look what he has done there at Gujarat Titans. It will also encourage the young guys with what Ashish will bring into the team. It could also be anyone, who just retired,” he added.

“For captaincy, Hardik Pandya is my choice. There is no better choice. He is the best player in the team and you need more people like him in the team,” said the former India spinner.

Hardik Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future – Sunil Gavaskar

Legendary India National Cricket Team batter Sunil Gavaskar has also opined that Pandya will be appointed as the new T20I captain of the Indian team after Rohit Sharma’s exit.

“Having won the Indian Premier League on his first assignment as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain.

“Hardik Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future, and there will be some retirements; you never know. Players will be giving it a lot of thought. There are several players in their mid-30s who will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

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