Following a successful ICC T20 World Cup campaign that led to Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20I cricket, indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is expected to captain the Indian team in the shortest format of the game. In parallel, insider sources also claim that KL Rahul, wicketkeeper-batter will be performing leadership duties in ODI matches.
The move comes as India looks set to turn the page on a new era of leadership with Rohit’s tenure as captain coming to an end. This is thought to open windows for young guns in the team to step up and take on bigger responsibilities going forward. ”Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian side in T20 after Rohit Sharma retired. All indications are that he may not be rested for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka too,” BCCI Sources told Parami News.
In six innings during this year’s T20 World Cup, Pandya demonstrated his excellent all-round skills by scoring 144 runs at an average of 48.00 with a strike rate of 151.57.
His batting contribution was best represented by his unbeaten knock which resulted into him making 50*. As a bowler, Pandya was able to record figures of 11/8 at an average of 17.36 and economy rate being 7.64 only. He managed his best bowling stats at three wickets for twenty runs only.
Pandya had a tough time during IPL season in 2024 despite his magnificent performance there. After taking over as Mumbai Indians’ (MI) captain from legendary Rohit, fans booed him across stadiums in India.
He returned back after having been nursing ankle injury since last year’s world cup fifty-over event and became subject of troll attacks online and fan wars. His return came under heavy criticism from fans who were eagerly waiting for him back into the action.
He was called out for betraying MI franchise owners, Rohit himself and his former team Gujarat Titans (GT) who he led to IPL championship in 2022.
Contrary to this, KL Rahul, despite his amazing performance in the ODI World Cup 2023 held in India, was surprisingly left out of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup.
In nine innings, Rahul accumulated 386 runs averaging at a good rate of 77.20 with a strike rate of 98.72. Throughout the tournament, batting at number five, Rahul played anchor role for Indian team’s majority innings.
One top performance will forever be remembered when Rahul’s match-saving knock against Australia India’s first game where hosts were struggling at two runs for three wickets. This enabled him to lift India from early troubles and post a notable partnership of one hundred sixty-five runs with Virat Kohli in Chennai where he made an unbeaten score of ninety seven that saw them win the match and make history.
“KL Rahul will lead the absence side for Rohit Sharma as board feels that he makes hundreds in longer format,” said one source
On Tuesday BCCI announced that Gautam Gambhir former cricketer from India was appointed as head coach for the indian men’s cricket team.
Gambhir recently served as KKR’s team mentor during IPL-2024 edition. His also guidance proved valuable as Kolkata Knight Riders won their third IPL title this season.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to social media platform X and divulged that Gambhir was now going to assume head coach position of Team India.
Shah expressed his total faith in Gambhir saying that he firmly believed that Gambhir is just what is needed at this point in time to steer Indian Cricket forward.
I am very happy to welcome Mr. Gautam Gambhir as the new Head Coach of Indian Cricket Team. Cricket has rapidly changed in modern times, and Gautam has seen it happening at close quarters. As he has gone through many challenges and excelled in a variety of positions throughout his career, I am sure that Gautam is the best candidate for leading Indian cricket forward.
His extensive experience along with clear vision for #TeamIndia makes him perfectly poised for this exciting and most coveted coaching role in history books. “Congratulations Gattu! Well deserved!” Shah wrote on X. After winning a thrillingly contested final match against South Africa by seven runs to seize the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy, India ended a seventeen-year wait for the coveted honour. This was also an epochal event that marked Rahul Dravid’s tenure as head coach (a position he would have held since October 2015) coming to an end.
