Hardik Pandya will compete with KL Rahul for India’s captaincy in its upcoming white-ball series against the tour of Sri Lanka. This is due to reports stating that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are likely to skip the Sri Lanka series to continue their rest after the draining effort to win the T20 World Cup 2024.
Along with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja also retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup win and will only be available for ODIs and Tests.
“Both are automatic choices in ODI set up and the three 50-over games against England before the Champions Trophy is good enough practice for them. For next few months, they both will prioritize Tests and India will play 10 of them between September to January,” a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source told PTI.
Rohit has had almost six months off from international cricket. The seasoned Indian opener has been in every India match since the December-January Test series against South Africa.
After touring the Rainbow Nation, Rohit returned as India’s T20I captain for the Afghanistan series. The 37-year-old then led India to a test series victory over England. He subsequently masterminded India’s second T20 World Cup victory.
Hardik Pandya vs KL Rahul for India’s captaincy on Sri Lanka tour
BCCI secretary Jay Shah recently confirmed Rohit as India’s captain for the ICC Champions Trophy and the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) edition.
However, with Gautam Gambhir set to take over the Indian head coach position from the Sri Lanka series, the report also stated that a new captain will lead the Indian team.
As per the PTI report, in Rohit’s absence, Hardik Pandya, who has served as Rohit’s deputy in the T20 World Cup 2024, is in line to become India’s captain along with KL Rahul, who was India’s captain during the last ODI series against South Africa in December 2023.
KL Rahul had captained India in their last ODI series in South Africa, helping the Men in Blue win by 2-1. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya has mostly captained in T20Is and three ODIs.
India is slated to tour Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many as ODIs later this month. The three-match ODI series will get underway in August.
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