Gautam Gambhir, a former opening batsman for India, has identified Hardik Pandya and Prithvi Shaw as two potential future captaincy prospects. Given that he led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL championship in their maiden season, Hardik’s selection is appropriate. Shaw is an unexpected selection, though, given he hasn’t even represented his nation since July 2021. In contrast, Hardik is being considered as Rohit Sharma’s potential successor in the game’s shortest format. After India’s T20 World Cup semifinal loss to England, there have been calls for Hardik to take Rohit’s place, at least for the game’s shortest format.
“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 said. Further talking about Shaw, Gambhir said: “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 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. Shaw has fallen out of favour recently and has even had trouble getting a spot in the Indian white-ball team’s second unit. The right-handed batter’s fitness has been called into question since since he was suspended for a drug offence in 2019 as well.