As India gears up for the T20 World Cup scheduled for June next year, discussions surrounding team composition and leadership have gained prominence. The return of some players after the ODI World Cup has intensified the competition within the squad, with selectors closely monitoring performances to finalize the T20 World Cup squad. However, off-field discussions, particularly regarding the captaincy, have become more pronounced.
The recent focus on captaincy arose when Rohit Sharma made his intentions clear to the selection committee and team management about his availability in the T20 format, which he has been away from since November 2022. With Rohit absent, Hardik Pandya is considered a prime candidate for the T20 World Cup captaincy, given his unofficial leadership role in the shortest format for the past two years.
Adding to the debate is Suryakumar Yadav, who emerged as a third candidate for the captaincy during the Australia series post the ODI World Cup. India’s 4-1 victory in that series led to Suryakumar Yadav retaining his captaincy for the upcoming South Africa series.
Gautam Gambhir, speaking to India Today amidst the captaincy discussions, emphasized the importance of first selecting players in good form before deliberating on the captaincy. He stressed that the captaincy is secondary to forming the right squad, and picking a captain should be based on the form of the player.
“Captaincy is not important, the team is. First, pick the players who are in form. And a player who is in form should be made the captain. You won’t make an out-of-form player the captain, right? Whether that is Rohit Sharma or Hardik Pandya or Suryakumar Yadav? If Rohit isn’t in form, you won’t even pick him probably. Picking the captain is not important, picking the right squad for the T20 World Cup is. And before that, we have the IPL. If anyone performs well, then you should consider him as well,” Gambhir explained.
While there is no official confirmation on Rohit Sharma’s return to T20Is, BCCI secretary Jay Shah expressed hope to see Hardik Pandya in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in January. The captaincy debate continues as the selectors and team management weigh their options for the upcoming T20 World Cup.