Hardik Pandya is seen as the foremost contender to take over leadership responsibility for India from current skipper Rohit Sharma in the future. The Gujarat Titans skipper was widely expected to be named the vice captain for both Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023 squads. However, the return of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah appears to have complicated matters in this department.
BCCI has handed Bumrah the responsibility to captain the team in the ongoing T20I series against Ireland. While Hardik Pandya was appointed the regular T20I captain, the show of faith in the Mumbai pacer as he returned to action after a long time on the sidelines now develops a new twist.
This signals that Bumrah is a contender for the vice-captain post alongside Pandya for the both the major tournaments in the next 3 months, going by a BCCI source quoted by PTI.
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“If you look in terms of leadership seniority, Bumrah is ahead of Pandya as he captained the Test team in 2022. He has also been ODI vice-captain before Pandya during the ODI tour of South Africa,” the BCCI source aware of the matter said on conditions of anonymity.
“Don't be surprised if you see Bumrah being made ODI deputy to Rohit for both Asia Cup and World Cup. There is a reason why he was handed captaincy in Ireland instead of Ruturaj,” the source added.
Recently, Pandya has seen some of his decisions as captain scrutinised after tasting first defeat leading the team in a bilateral T20I series against West Indies. These included gambles like using Mukesh Kumar in death overs and not bowling Axar Patel.
(Inputs from PTI)
