Post Rohit Sharma’s reign as captain, Team India is all set to have different captains in three formats of the game. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be India’s new ODI captain. Virat Kohli is being asked to lead the Test team while Surya Kumar Yadav is the T20 captain, the BCCI sources told CricBlogger.
Sources said that India coach Gautam Gambhir has backed the idea of Virat leading the Test team again, Hardik as ODI captain and Surya as T20 captain. The board could also sync with Gambhir and the ball is now in the selectors’ court to join the dotted lines.
It is also revealed that Gambhir spoke to Virat in Australia itself about captaining the Test side and it is yet to be ascertained if Kohli is okay with the role or not. Earlier, the top brass of the BCCI had backed Hardik to be the T20 captain ahead of Surya. Sources said that chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Rohit voted against Hardik and backed Surya to take over as T20 captain.
“India is going to have three captains for three formats very soon. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the captains fare,” the source explained.
Sources also suggested that if Surya continues to struggle in T20s like he did in ODIs, Hardik could be the new white ball captain. With the backing of Mumbai Indians, where he will be captaining both Rohit and Surya, this could be game-changing move. “This sort of transition phase could be very delicate for the system but the board is ready for it,” the source added.