“It’s going against him” – Aakash Chopra doesn’t see Hardik Pandya captaining India in the 2024 T20 World Cup due to fitness issues

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra doesn’t see Hardik Pandya captaining India in the 2024 T20 World Cup due to fitness issues. Pandya was ruled out of the ODI World Cup due to an ankle injury and also missed out on the subsequent tour of South Africa. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav led the team against the Proteas.

The all-rounder is yet to recover from his injury and thus he isn’t available for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. Pandya has been leading India in the T20I format after the semifinal loss against England in the T20 World Cup 2022.

Aakash Chopra said on YouTube Channel, “Hardik will probably not be the captain because there is an issue regarding fitness. You are not playing currently. You twisted your ankle in the World Cup. You are not playing the Afghanistan series and you don’t play Tests in any case, so you will straightaway play the IPL. It’s going against him.”

The renowned commentator reckons Rohit Sharma will be India’s captain for the T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit hasn’t played in the T20I format since the T20 World Cup 2022.

“I feel Rohit Sharma will be doing T20I captaincy and will also be the captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup. If you had asked this question after the 2022 T20 World Cup, it was almost certain he wouldn’t be the captain, considering the way the team performed as we were scoring 60 runs in the first 10 overs.”

Chopra added that consistent performances of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the ODI World Cup will help the trio.

“However, time elapsed and none of these players played T20Is for India. The ODI World Cup happened, where you played very well and reached the final. Rohit Sharma gave explosive starts, Virat Kohli was the Player of the Tournament, and KL Rahul did an amazing job down the order.”

Rohit scored 597 runs in 11 matches of the World Cup 2023 at an average of 54.27 whereas Virat Kohli finished the tournament as the highest run-getter with 765 runs in 11 matches.

Chopra reckons the recent form will hold weightage in the T20 World Cup squad selection.

“Suddenly you say that everyone is doing well. So I feel, giving weightage to recent form, it will be an almost identical team. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be there and I won’t be surprised if KL Rahul is also there.”

India will take on Afghanistan in three-match T20I series, starting 11 January.