Former Indian cricketer asserts, ‘Rohit Sharma, not Hardik Pandya, will lead as captain in the 2024 T20 World Cup.’

In a recent statement, ex-opener Aakash Chopra expressed his expectation that Rohit Sharma might captain the Indian team in the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled from June 1 to June 29. The high-profile tournament is jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States.

On his YouTube channel, Chopra proposed Rohit as the likely captain, attributing it to the persistent fitness issues faced by Hardik Pandya, which could affect his current availability for the matches.

The ICC unveiled the comprehensive schedule for the tournament on Friday, revealing that India is slated to face arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9 in New York.

Hardik Pandya has been out of action in competitive cricket since October 19 due to an ankle injury sustained while bowling in an ICC Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh. Consequently, he was absent during the five-match T20I series against Australia and the subsequent three-match T20I and ODI series on the South Africa tour.

During Hardik’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav assumed the role of captain for India in all the T20I matches.

Aakash Chopra commented on the situation, expressing doubts about Hardik’s captaincy in the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup due to fitness concerns. He pointed out that Hardik’s current inactivity, the ankle injury during the World Cup, and his exclusion from the Afghanistan series and Test matches may work against him.

“I believe Rohit Sharma will take on the T20I captaincy role and also lead the team in the 2024 T20 World Cup. If this question had been asked after the 2022 T20 World Cup, it was nearly certain he wouldn’t be the captain, given the team’s performance where we struggled to score 60 runs in the first 10 overs,” he remarked.

Hardik Pandya was recently named the captain for the Mumbai Indians (MI), taking over from Rohit Sharma, who rejoined his former franchise after a two-year stint with Gujarat Titans.