After Srikkanth, Ravi Shastri bats for Hardik Pandya as India T20I captain

After India faltered at the semi-final stage of the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2022, former head coach Ravi Shastri has suggested that the team have a new T20I captain and backed all-rounder Hardik Pandya to replace Rohit Sharma.

Last Thursday (November 10), India was handed a 10-wicket thrashing by eventual champion England in the T20 World Cup in Australia.

This was the fourth straight semi-final loss for India in an ICC event, starting from the 50-over World Cup in 2015, which was also held in Australia. After that, the West Indies beat India in the T20 World Cup in 2016 and the ‘Men in Blue’ lost to New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup in 2019.

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From tomorrow (November 18), India plays New Zealand in three T20Is and three ODIs. Pandya will lead the T20I side. Rohit, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul have been rested from the New Zealand tour.

Ahead of the first T20I against the Kiwis in Wellington, Shastri spoke to the media and felt that India should follow England’s white-ball template.

“For T20 cricket, there is no harm in having a new captain. Because the volume of cricket is such, that for one player to play all three formats of the game is never going to be easy. If Rohit is already leading in Tests and ODIs, there is no harm in identifying a new T20I captain, and if his name is Hardik Pandya, so be it,” Shastri said on Thursday (November 17).

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Praising England for their approach to white-ball cricket, Shastri said, “There’s an opportunity with this team in the future to identify roles for players, identify match-winners, and go pretty much on the template of England.”

“They are one team that really caught the bull by the horns after the 2015 World Cup. They sat down and said they are going to identify the best players for that format of the game – whether it’s T20 or 50-over cricket, which meant that if they are some senior players, and have to sit out, so be it. And they got in youngsters who were fearless and could adapt to that pattern of the game.

“It’s a template that can be followed easily, India has got a wealth of resources and it can start from this tour. It’s a fresh young side, you can identify, groom this team, Shastri added.

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With National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman named as the stand-in head coach for the New Zealand tour, Shastri questioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) move to rest the support staff including Rahul Dravid.

“I don’t believe in breaks. Because I want to understand my teams and players and then be in control of the team. What do you need that many breaks for? You get 2-3 months of break during the IPL that’s enough to rest. I feel the coach should be hands-on,” Shastri said.

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