There’s been a lot of chatter about who will captain India’s ODI team next and it’s been a hot topic since Rohit Sharma stepped away from Tests in May 2025. Although he’s still leading the ODI team, whispers about his ODI future have been going on for a couple of months. People are starting to wonder when Rohit will hang up his boots in 50-over cricket and that leads to conversations about who should take over.
Shubman Gill, who also leads the Test team, is the obvious choice to step into Rohit’s shoes. But some fans and experts are throwing Shreyas Iyer’s name into the mix. Iyer is the only captain in IPL history to take three different teams to the final.
Suresh Raina, a former Indian batter, thinks Hardik Pandya is a strong contender. Raina believes Hardik has that special something like MS Dhoni that makes him a player’s captain. He wants to see the 31-year-old all-rounder captain in white-ball cricket.
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Hardik has captained India in T20Is and ODIs before but it was only temporary. He hasn’t been considered for any leadership role in the last year.
Raina spoke on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel. When asked who should captain India after Rohit Sharma, Raina didn’t hesitate: Shubman Gill. He’s in a league of his own.
When pressed to choose between Gill and Iyer, Raina was clear. Gill, any day, he said. But I still think Hardik Pandya can do wonders as captain in white-ball cricket. He should be given the job again because he has that same experience as someone like Kapil Dev, with his batting, bowling and fielding. He’s such a positive influence. From what I’ve seen, he’s got the qualities of a player’s captain. He reminds me of Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni). The way he connects with people and brings energy to the field. I really like that.He’s currently the captain of Mumbai Indians in IPL. He was the captain of Gujarat Titans in 2022 and 2023. GT won the IPL in 2022 and were runners up in 2023.
