Gambhir names two players as potential captains for Team India, excludes Rishabh Pant

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has picked Hardik Pandya and Prithvi Shaw as potential candidates for India's captaincy in the future. Gambhir said Pandya is obviously in the line to become India's next captain at least in the shortest format of the game. He backed Pandya to take over the charge from Rohit Sharma, saying it is going to be unfortunate for the Mumbai batsman because he feels that judging his captaincy in only one ICC event is not the right way. 

Gambhir went on to say that he sees Prithvi Shaw as his second choice for India's future captaincy candidates. Gambhir did not mention in what format he would like Shaw to captain the Indian team but said that the youngster can be a very aggressive and successful captain. Gambhir stated that it is the job of the coach and the selectors to get Shaw to walk the right path citing his off-field activities that many people have criticised in the recent past. Surprisingly enough, Gambhir did not include India's current stand-in vice-captain Rishabh Pant in his list.  

"Hardik Pandya obviously is in line. But that's going to be unfortunate for Rohit because I think judging his captaincy in only one ICC event is not the right way to probably judge him," Gambhir was quoted as saying at an event by ESPNcricinfo.  

"The reason I've picked Prithvi Shaw, I know a lot of people talk about his off-field activities, but that is what the job of the coach and the selectors are. The selectors' job isn't just to pick the 15, but also to get people to walk the right path. Prithvi Shaw is one I feel can be a very aggressive captain, a very successful captain because you see that aggression in the way a person plays the sport," he added. 

Can Hardik become the next India captain?

Hardik Pandya is most likely to become the next captain of the Indian T20I team, replacing Rohit Sharma, who has been at the helm of the job since November 2021. Hardik recently led India to a 1-0 victory in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand. He also captained India in a 2-0 win against Ireland in July this year. Hardik was the captain of Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 and helped the side win its maiden title in its very first year in the competition. 

Shaw, on the other hand, is still struggling to find his way back into the national team despite some good performances in domestic tournaments. In the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Alif Trophy, Shaw finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 332 runs in 10 innings, which he scored with a strike rate of 181.42.  

Image: PTI/Twitter/RishabhPant