Gautam Gambhir picks Hardik Pandya and Prithvi Shaw as future Indian captains

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has picked Hardik Pandya and Prithvi Shaw as India’s potential future captains in the T20I format. Pandya had led Gujarat Titans to glory in the first season as a captain in IPL 2022 and he also scored 487 runs in the season to play a key role in the team’s success.

Subsequently, Pandya was appointed as India’s captain for the first time when he led in the two-match series against Ireland. The all-rounder also led India to a 1-0 series win against New Zealand recently after the T20 World Cup.

On the other hand, Prithvi Shaw hasn’t received his chances in the national team in recent times despite performing consistently in the domestic circuit. Shaw has led Mumbai in the domestic tournaments and he has shown the right acumen as a leader. The youngster had also led India to the Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2018 in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, India was knocked out of the T20 World Cup after they lost to England by 10 wickets in the semi-final contest. Gambhir feels it will be unfair to judge Rohit Sharma’s captaincy based on one major tournament.

“Hardik Pandya obviously is in line,” Gambhir said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Sunday. “But that’s going to be unfortunate for Rohit because I think judging his captaincy in only one ICC event is not the right way to probably judge him.”

“The reason I’ve picked Prithvi Shaw, I know a lot of people talk about his off-field activities, but that is what the job of the coach and the selectors are,” Gambhir said.

“The selectors’ job isn’t just to pick the 15, but also to get people walk the right path. “Prithvi Shaw is one I feel can be a very aggressive captain, a very successful captain because you see that aggression in the way a person plays the sport.”

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has got all the experience under his belt and he is expected to lead the team in the next couple of seasons.

India will play the third ODI against New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Wednesday.