T20 World Cup 2024

‘What if your captain is injured before the World Cup?’- Irfan Pathan warns about India’s ‘likely’ next T20I captain

Team India has been forced to start all over again after their 20-20 World Cup campaign ended with disappointment. The Rohit Sharma-led side were thrashed by 10 wickets in the semi-final by a resurgent England side. This loss has unearthed a lot of problems with the team and a structural change is being asked by all fans and ex-cricketers alike.

One change that many are demanding is in the leadership of the team. This was a back-to-back failure for the Rohit Sharma-led side after losing in a similar poor fashion at the Asia Cup 2022. Naturally, questions are being asked of his captaincy and other options are being explored by the board.

The front-runner for the T20 captaincy role for India is the all-rounder, Hardik Pandya. In his first major stint as captain, Pandya took the debutant Gujarat side to an Indian T20 League victory in 2022. The 29-year-old was then picked as the skipper of India’s Ireland tour in which he came out with an impressive performance as well.

Former India player Irfan Pathan however has suggested caution when thinking of selecting Pandya as the next T20I captain for India as he is injury prone. Speaking at Star Sports show ‘Match point’ former India all-rounder said, “I’m not saying that if you change the captain, you change the result, if you go like that you’re not going to change the result. And with Hardik Pandya, you need to understand, we all need to understand, that he’s a fast-bowling all-rounder. He has injury issues as well. What if he is your captain who is getting injured right before the World cup? And if you don’t have any other leader ready, you’ll be in a mess.”

India needs to have a group of leaders- Irfan Pathan

“So, what I personally think is that Hardik Pandya is a leader, who has done very well in Gujarat, won Indian T20 League, won the championship trophy. You need to find not one, but two leaders going forward to build their mark. You know just like we talk about openers – we need to have a group of openers, we also need to have a group of leaders,” he added.

Pandya will be leading the Indian team for a three-match T20I series against New Zealand from November 18^th.