Aakash Chopra Believes That Hardik Pandya Will Continue To Lead India’s T20 Team Beyond 2023 And Till Next T20 World Cup

Hardik Pandya has been leading India’s T20 side ever since the team was knocked out of the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

The Indian selectors led by Ajit Agrakar picked a rather exciting squad for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma were the two uncapped players who were included. Hardik Pandya has been retained as the T20I captain by the newly appointed BCCI chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, while senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested. Since the T20 World Cup 2022, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have continuously been absent from the shortest format and Hardik Pandya has been captaining the side.

Aakash Chopra, former India batter, believes that Hardik will continue to lead the Indian team in T20Is for a considerable period and this includes the T20 World Cup 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," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Aakash Chopra also commented on Rohit and Kohli's exclusion, stating that the selectors have already moved on and that they have not picked any of the senior players. “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.

Given the absence of senior players, batter Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the vice-captain for the five-match T20I series. Additionally, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has made a comeback to the Indian T20I team. This squad is the first to be selected under the leadership of Ajit Agarkar, who assumed the position of BCCI chief selector on Tuesday.

The West Indies tour will start on July 12, beginning with two Test matches followed by three ODIs and five T20Is.

India's T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar