India have achieved great success under Rohit Sharma in recent ICC white-ball events, winning the T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025. However, while he has confirmed that he would keep playing ODIs, there is no clarity yet whether he would stay on till the 2027 50-over World Cup. However, former India World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has given a different suggestion to Team India for captaincy. In fact, Kapil’s choice for India’s next white-ball captain is currently not a captain in any format.
“To me, Hardik Pandya is my white ball captain. There are many contenders for the post but Pandya is my choice,” Kapil Dev said in an interview with MyKhel during a PGTI pro-am event in Greater Noida.
“Pandya is relatively young and can build a team around him for the next ICC events,” Kapil added.
Pandya was India’s vice-captain in ODI and T20I cricket while Rahul Dravid was the head coach of Team India. However, he has found himself out of any official leadership role after Gautam Gambhir‘s arrival, with his fitness and availability being raised as a concern.
Instead, Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as India’s permanent T20I captain, while Shubman Gill has become India’s vice-captain in ODI cricket.
“Ideally, Hardik should also play Test cricket and since he isn’t playing, India will need multiple captain for three formats,” Kapil further said.
Hardik Pandya, incidentally, captains Rohit, Suryakumar and Test vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah at Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI).
However, Pandya has enjoyed mixed success as a captain in the IPL.
Pandya first became captain with Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, and delivered incredible results. In two seasons there, Pandya won the title once and finished runner-up once.
However, his stint at Mumbai Indians has so far been a stain on his record. In 2024, Pandya-led MI finished rock-bottom of the league.
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