Hardik Pandya reacts to being Rohit Sharma’s potential captaincy successor post T20 WC win

Modern-day legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from T20Is after India emerged champions of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2024 after beating South Africa in a thrilling final in Barbados on Saturday.

Now the question that will most likely arise is who will be the next captain of India in T20Is. The selectors will have a few options to chose from like- Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. However, the star all-rounder is likely to emerge as the favourite, having led India in bilateral contests through the course of 2022 and 2023, especially after his success at Gujarat Titans in both those years in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the captain.

After India’s World Cup victory, Hardik was asked about being the potential replacement for Rohit keeping the 2026 T20 World Cup in mind. However, the star all-rounder chose to remain tight-lipped on the possibility and rather spoke about the incumbent India skipper and Kohli.

“There is a lot of time for 2026. I am very happy for both Rohit and Virat...two giants and legends of Indian cricket thoroughly deserved this. It has been so amazing playing with them for so many years. We all will miss them but at the same point, this is the best farewell we can give them,” said Pandya.

Notably, the Men in Blue will play in a three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe, starting July 5. Shivam Dube will be the only member of the present World Cup squad to participate in the tour. Gill will lead the Indian side in the series.