"These are two candidates for India's future captaincy..."- Ex-IND Opener names two possible successors to Rohit; leaves out Hardik Pandya
Although there has not been any official statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that Hardik will be the official captain, that might be the case in the coming few months. However, Rohit might also give up the ODI captaincy after the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
And it is likely that Hardik will lead India in both white-ball formats. But when it comes to the longer format, then who will be Rohit's successor? Former Test opener Aakash Chopra picks two players who can be the future Test captains for India.
In a discussion on Jio Cinema, Aakash said that India might have different captains for different formats, while Rohit will captain the red-ball team till the World Test Championship. He said that Hardik might captain in T20Is until the 2024 T20 World Cup, and Rohit will stay the ODI captain until the ODI World Cup.
When asked about test captaincy, he said, "But I think in the long term, in terms of India's captaincy, it will be Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. These are my two candidates for India's captaincy in the future."
Hardik is currently leading the Indian team in the ongoing three-match T20I series against New Zealand. India whitewashed the Kiwis in the ODI series under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, while India lost the first T20I on Friday, with the second game to take place on Sunday in Lucknow.
It will be a must-win game for Team India; if they lose this, New Zealand will win the series. After this white-ball series, India will host Australia for a four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting on February 9. The seniors who are not part of the ongoing T20Is against New Zealand will be back in Tests.