3 things to expect from Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya captaincy partnership
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will form the core of India's leadership group in white-ball cricket this year. While Sharma has been the captain in all the formats of the game for the last few months, Pandya received a promotion to the vice-captain's role at the start of the new year.
Pandya has made an excellent comeback to cricket in the last nine months. Around this time last year, Venkatesh Iyer was billed to replace Hardik in the Indian white-ball team. Many fans were unsure whether the Baroda all-rounder will ever be able to play consistently as he was out with an injury for a long time.
Hardik Pandya made his comeback in IPL 2022 and guided the Gujarat Titans to their maiden title in his first season as captain. Soon after, the BCCI gave him an opportunity to lead the Indian T20I team. He led the nation to a 2-0 T20I series win against Ireland, which was followed by a 1-0 series win against New Zealand.
Pandya also captained India in the T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this year, where the Men in Blue emerged victorious by 2-1. He is currently the vice-captain in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Previously, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were the leaders of the Indian team, but Hardik Pandya has now replaced the latter. In this listicle, we will look at the three things fans should expect from this new Sharma-Pandya partnership.
#1 Indian players will likely receive more backing from the leaders Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
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Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma are two IPL-winning captains. Both have tasted success in international cricket as well. One of the main reasons behind their high win percentage as captains is that they back the players.
In the past, some fans have complained that a few players were axed when they performed poorly in just a few matches, or a debutant never played again for the team after one bad performance. Such things may not be repeated under Rohit and Hardik as both players back others and believe in giving fair opportunities.
#2 Increase in risk-taking in bilateral cricket
Hardik Pandya decided to bowl first 🤔
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A big change that fans may have already noticed under the new partnership is that they are willing to take more risks and put the team in difficult situations during the bilateral series. In the past, India have lost some big games after losing the toss.
It seems that Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are trying to nullify the toss result's effect on the Indian team. In the recently concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, Pandya elected to bat first where teams preferred chasing while he opted to bowl first where teams preferred batting first.
#3 Smooth transition in full-time captaincy
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While Rohit Sharma has contributed immensely to India's success for more than 15 years, one thing fans cannot deny is that the Hitman cannot play for the Indian team forever. There will come a time when he will have to give up the captaincy, and for that, he will have to keep a proper successor ready as well.
MS Dhoni groomed Virat Kohli under him before handing him the reins of the team. Fans should expect another smooth transition between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya whenever the time comes.
Pandya started his IPL career under Rohit back in 2015. The current Indian skipper has played a pivotal role in the rise of Pandya, which is why there is a lot of mutual respect between the two players.