WI vs IND: Feels like Hardik Pandya will lead Indian T20I team in World Cup, says Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons Hardik Pandya will lead India in the T20 World Cup in 2024. Pandya has been leading India’s T20 team in Rohit Sharma’s absence. The all-rounder is also named as India’s T20I captain for the upcoming five-match T20I series against the West Indies.

Pandya has been spot-on as a skipper and hogged the limelight after he led Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 in his first season as a leader. The all-rounder continued his good show as he led Gujarat Titans to the final of IPL 2023 but this time the team could not cross the last hurdle against Chennai Super Kings.

With senior players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma sidelined from T20I selection, Pandya is the front-runner to lead the team in the marquee event in the West Indies in 2024.

“Hardik Pandya, who had been given the captaincy after the T20 World Cup – it seems like that’s now the final fixture, that Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian T20 team for times to come, which means until the upcoming World Cup,” Aakash Chopra said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

In fact, Indian selectors have not picked Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in any of the bilateral T20I series after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2022.

“I feel they had already moved in that direction and it is still the same, nothing has changed. None of the seniors have been picked. KL Rahul is unavailable but now it is extended that you have not played Rohit and Kohli since the World Cup,” Chopra added.

Pandya has done a fantastic job for India in the T20I format in the absence of Rohit Sharma and he will look to carry the good show. The first T20I between India and West Indies will be played in Trinidad on August 3.

India’s T20I squad for WI series: Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vice-captain), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (captain), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar.