Rohit Sharma, Not Hardik Pandya, To Lead India In T20 World Cup 2024. Ex Star Explains Why

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra said that he feels that Team India will field an almost identical team to that of the 2022 edition of the tournament for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA this year, starting from June onwards, with Rohit Sharma as the captain. ICC announced the schedule for the competition on Friday. A new chapter will unfold in one of the oldest rivalries in cricket history as India will square off against Pakistan on June 9 in New York.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash said that he feels Rohit will be doing the captaincy in the tournament since Hardik Pandya's fitness is making it difficult for the all-rounder to play currently.

"Hardik will probably not be the captain because there is an issue regarding fitness. You are not playing currently. You twisted your ankle in the World Cup. You are not playing the Afghanistan series and you don't play Tests in any case, so you will straightaway play the IPL. It is going against him," said Aakash.

"I feel Rohit Sharma will be doing T20I captaincy and will also be the captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup. If you had asked this question after the 2022 T20 World Cup, it was almost certain he would not be the captain, considering the way the team performed as we were scoring 60 runs in the first 10 overs," he added.

Hardik has not played any competitive cricket since October 19, when he injured his ankle while bowling during the ICC Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh. Since then, he has missed the five-match T20I series against Australia and the three-match T20I and ODI series during the tour to South Africa as well. Suryakumar Yadav led India in all the T20I matches while KL Rahul led the team in ODIs in the absence of Pandya