The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to make a huge decision in the Indian team following India's T20 World Cup exit. In a never done before step, it is expected that the BCCI will brace split captaincy in Indian Cricket.
According to PTI, Hardik Pandya is likely to be appointed as the next T20I captain of India. While it is expected that Rohit Sharma will keep the ODI and Test reigns. This comes after the Indian Board sacked the entire men's senior selection committee on November 18. On Friday the selection committee led by Chetan Sharma was sacked and fresh applications for five selectors' posts were invited. According to PTI, BCCI mentioned two key job domains, which have never been stated in the earlier selection committee advertisements.
This time, the selectors will have to prepare and provide evaluation reports of respective team performance to the Apex Council of BCCI on a quarterly basis, and appoint a captain for the team in each format. The split captaincy can be implemented when the new selection committee takes over.
The Indian team suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the T20 World Cup semifinal against England. The Men in Blue were thumped by 10 wickets and failed to bring another ICC trophy. After the World Cup exit, Indian Cricket is expected to go under some changes, especially in the T20I format which probably also includes building a specialist T20I team and a new T20I captain. Many experts have also advocated the move to make Hardik Pandya the next Indian captain in T20Is ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Former World Cup winners Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Sunil Gavaskar stated Pandya should be made the next captain. "If I was the Chairman of the selection committee, I would say that Hardik Pandya should be the captain of the 2024 World Cup, straight away. And start rebuilding a side right from now itself, that is from the New Zealand series," Srikkanth said on Star Sports recently. Former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar also weighed on the move. "Having won the IPL on his first attempt as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain. Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future and there will be some retirements, you never know. There are several players in their mid-30s who will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team," Gavaskar had said after India crashed out in the semifinal.
