- After the end of Champions Trophy 2025, India captain Rohit Sharma may say goodbye to international cricket, after which not Shubman Gill but someone else can be made the next captain of India in ODIs.
Rohit Sharma: India’s captain Rohit Sharma is currently performing brilliantly in the Champions Trophy 2025. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India has so far entered the semi-finals by defeating neighboring countries Pakistan and Bangladesh in this tournament. In the group stage, India has to play its last match against New Zealand on March 2, after which they will face the team of Group A in the semi-finals. There are discussions that Rohit Sharma may announce his retirement from international cricket after this tournament, after which Shubman is at the forefront of the race to become the captain, but now suddenly a new player has entered the race to become the captain.
Not Gill, this player will become the captain
After the Test series defeat against New Zealand and Australia, a review meeting was held in Mumbai on 11 January 2025, in which India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and many senior BCCI officials participated. According to media reports, Rohit was asked questions about his future in this meeting, to which Rohit said that he would leave the captaincy after 2 to 3 months, after which it was speculated that Shubman Gill could carry forward Rohit’s legacy, but now it is being speculated that not Gill but Hardik Pandya could be made the next ODI captain of India after Rohit.
Gambhir wanted to make Hardik the vice-captain
Shubman Gill was made the vice-captain of the team on the Sri Lanka tour in August 2024, after which there were discussions that Shubman Gill could become the next ODI captain of India after Rohit, but when the 15-member team was selected for the Champions Trophy 2025, head coach Gautam Gambhir was in favor of making Hardik Pandya the vice-captain.
While Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were adamant about making Shubman Gill the vice-captain, after which Shubman was made the vice-captain by bypassing Gambhir’s decision. But after Rohit Sharma steps down from the captaincy, Gambhir can suggest the name of Hardik Pandya as the captain because this star all-rounder has performed very well with the ball and bat for India and Pandya also has the experience of handling international-level pressure.
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy stats
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has captained India in a total of 16 T20 matches so far, in which he has won 10 and lost 5, and 1 match was a draw. Apart from this, Hardik has captained India in 3 ODIs, out of which he has won two and lost one match. Let us tell you that Hardik has never captained in domestic cricket, but in IPL, he has captained Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians. Currently, he is the captain of MI.