India has had some big wins recently with Rohit Sharma leading the team in white-ball cricket. They took home the T20 World Cup in 2024 and won the Champions Trophy in 2025. There’s a bit of uncertainty about whether Rohit will continue playing ODIs for much longer, especially with the next 50-over World Cup coming up in 2027.
In the midst of all this, Kapil Dev, the former captain who led India to World Cup glory, has thrown his hat in the ring with a suggestion for who should take over as captain for the white-ball formats. He’s got his eyes set on Hardik Pandya, who isn’t currently wearing any captain’s hat in cricket right now.
During an interview with MyKhel, Kapil stated clearly, “To me, Hardik Pandya is my choice for white-ball captain. Sure, there are other candidates, but I really believe Pandya should take the reins.” He mentioned that Hardik is young and has the potential to build a solid team for the upcoming international events.
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Until recently, Hardik was acting as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is when Rahul Dravid was the head coach. But things changed when Gautam Gambhir came on board, and suddenly Hardik’s spot in leadership took a hit, raising some concerns about his fitness and readiness to play. Suryakumar Yadav has since been named as the permanent captain for T20Is, and Shubman Gill stepped up as vice-captain for ODIs.
Kapil also pointed out that ideally, Hardik should be a part of the Test team, but since that’s not happening right now, India might need different captains for the three formats to keep things running smoothly.
Interestingly, Hardik is already captain of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, where he leads a group that includes Rohit, Suryakumar, and Jasprit Bumrah, who is the vice-captain for the Test team. However, his time as a captain in the IPL has been a mixed bag. He started out leading the Gujarat Titans in 2022 and did remarkably well, winning the title once and coming in second another time.
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On the flip side, his record with the Mumbai Indians has been struggles. In the 2024 season, under his captaincy, the team ended up at the bottom of the league standings. It’s a bumpy road, but many are keen to see how this all plays out in the coming months as India approaches future tournaments.
