Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that divided leadership would be introduced by the Indian team soon. Though Rohit Sharma is the all-format captain, he has not led India in T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2022 concluded in November. Instead, Hardik Pandya will be in charge of the shortest format, while Rohit will be in charge of the ODI and Test forms.
Chopra believes that Rohit Sharma will lead the side in Tests till the World Test Championship in 2023, but that the ODI captaincy would change after the World Cup later this year. Chopra believes that although Hardik Pandya may command the Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup 2024 next year, the all-prospect rounders of winning the ODI leadership are slim.
Chopra mentions two teenagers, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, as the players he believes are the best prospects for India’s ODI captaincy:
“I don’t believe we will see a single captain for all forms just yet, I think those days are finished. “Rohit Sharma will be the Test team’s captain till the World Cup, and that will not change – it will remain that way,” Chopra stated on Jio Cinema.
“Hardik Pandya is presently the captain in the T20 format, and I believe he will continue to do so and in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, you will see Pandya be the captain of the Indian squad. Rohit Sharma will continue to lead India in one-day cricket till the World Cup. But, in the long run, I believe Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant will be India’s captains. “These are my two potential captaincy prospects for India,” he said.
Earlier, experienced wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik said that if the chance arises, India may implement a split-captaincy system. Karthik said that the team’s choice should be determined on the outcome of the ODI World Cup, and that Rohit Sharma should stay as team India’s all-format captain until then since the squad isn’t playing enough T20Is in preparation.
