Legendary former India batter believes Hardik Pandya will lead Indian team post World Cup

After a 2-1 victory in the Test series, team India will take on Australia for the three-match ODI series, starting on March 17. The series will be crucial for both teams as this will be a great preparation for the 50-over World Cup that will be hosted by India, later, this year.

Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian side in the first ODI as Rohit Sharma will be unavailable due to family commitments. The 29-year-old has already captained team India multiple times in the T20 format after the management decided to prepare a different team for the 2024 20-20 World Cup after India’s semi-final exit in 2022.

Pandya has been impressive as the T20I captain, so far, as he led India win the series against Ireland, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand (both home and away). He also led the Gujarat franchise to the title in their inaugural season in 2022.

Now, Pandya is going to debut as the skipper in the 50-over format as well. Former Indian batter, Sunil Gavaskar praised him for his stint as the skipper over the past few months and also stated that he can be India’s full-time captain after the upcoming ODI World Cup.

‘He’s gone through the fire and he wants us to go through the fire’ – 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. So, someone who is prepared to take on responsibility, lead from the front, and who will not ask the players to do something that he wants to do himself, is highly crucial. So, when the players know that he’s just not putting us over there because he doesn’t want to be there, that he’s gone through the fire and he wants us to go through the fire. So, that’s the key as far as Hardik Pandya is concerned,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He has been an impressive captain. I have been very impressed with his captaincy at the T20 level for the Gujarat Franchise 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,” the Indian legend further added.