Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has picked Rohit Sharma’s successor to captain Team India after the ODI World Cup 2023. With the Border Gavaskar Series 2023 now over, the attention shifts to the ODI World Cup later this year.
The Men in Blue will kick start their preparations for the spectacle in October as they take on Australia in a 3-match ODI series from March 17, with the first match scheduled to be played in Mumbai.
Gavaskar feels that Hardik Pandya would be the perfect player to take over the mantle from Rohit after the ODI World Cup, given his recent success after leading the Indian T20I team as well as winning the IPL with Gujarat Titans last year.
Speaking on Star Sports’ show Game Plan, Gavaskar feels that Pandya allows his teammates to express themselves naturally which is the sign of a great leader.
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Rohit will miss the first ODI against Australia due to family commitments and in his place, Hardik will lead the side in Mumbai.
“What you see with Hardik Pandya as a captain is a sense of comfort with the rest of the team. Maybe, it’s the way he handles the players, puts his arm around the players. He just seems to give the players a sense of comfort. That’s so important to give a player a sense of comfort so that he can go and play his natural game. I think he encourages them, which is a wonderful sign,” said Gavaskar.
“Of course, the fact that he can be an impact player as well as a game changer in the middle order. Even for the Gujarat team, he was promoting himself up the order knowing that this is the time when the team needed some momentum and push, and he would do that,” Gavaskar added.
The veteran further backed Pandya to take over the ODI captaincy from Rohit and lead the Men in Blue in both limited-overs formats going forward.
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“I have been very impressed with his captaincy at the T20 level for the Gujarat Titans and for India when he is captaining the T20 side. I do believe that if he wins the first game in Mumbai, then you can almost stamp him as the India captain once the World Cup is over in 2023,” Gavaskar stated further.
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