"KL Rahul may not be part of the playing XI in 50-over cricket at the moment" - Sanjay Bangar on Hardik Pandya as India's next white-ball captain

Sanjay Bangar believes Hardik Pandya has marched ahead of KL Rahul in the race to be India's next limited-overs captain.

Pandya will captain the Men in Blue in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in Rohit Sharma and Rahul's absence. The Baroda all-rounder has been named Rohit's deputy for the subsequent ODI series against the same opponents, even though Rahul is part of the squad.

During an interaction on 'The Cricinfo Show' on Star Sports, Bangar was asked whether the development implies Pandya has leapfrogged Rahul as India's next white-ball captain, to which he responded:

"Taking into account the kind of success that Ishan Kishan has had at the top of the order which means KL Rahul will have to fight for a place in the playing XI, and hence I feel that KL Rahul may not be part of the playing XI in 50-over cricket at the moment."

The former Indian batting coach feels Pandya's title-winning run as the Gujarat Titans skipper in IPL 2022 has put him in a prime position to be Rohit's successor as India's limited-overs skipper, elaborating:

"Hardik Pandya's career graph as far as his captaincy is concerned is pretty good because the way he led his team to the IPL championship was fabulous. So it meant in the longer run he is going to be a strong contender to take over the reins from Rohit Sharma whenever the situation arises."

Hardik Pandya who had no real experience of captaincy coming into IPL 2022 has led Gujarat Titans to the IPL trophy. 483 runs by himself and 10 wickets, he led from the front. What a start to his captaincy tenure! https://t.co/8gzxzCpEnr

The Indian think tank was probably looking at Rahul as a middle-order batter apart from donning the wicketkeeping gloves at the ODI World Cup later this year.

However, Ishan Kishan's explosive double century at the top of the order in the final ODI against Bangladesh has given them another wicketkeeping option, implying Rahul might have to compete with Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav for the two available middle-order berths.

"We were all taken by surprise actually" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Hardik Pandya's success as the Gujarat Titans skipper

Hardik Pandya led the Gujarat Titans to the title in their maiden IPL season. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted that Hardik Pandya's success as the Titans skipper had stunned most cricket experts, saying:

"We were all taken by surprise actually. Who thought that Hardik Pandya will be such a raging success in the IPL as captain? But in a long season, just the way he handled the team and the way he looked as a leader was a pleasant surprise."

Manjrekar also concurred with Bangar that Rahul's indifferent performances have given Pandya the edge in the captaincy race, explaining:

"Considering that he is bowling now and the impact that he is making, right time to reward him with leadership. So well deserved. KL Rahul's form is starting to make his situation a little tricky, didn't have a great T20 World Cup and he looked a little out of sorts in the Test series against Bangladesh also, so all this is something that happens."

Gautam Gambhir picks Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as the openers for the ODIs against Sri Lanka, with no place for KL Rahul in his team. (To Espncricinfo).

Rahul's conservative approach has drawn criticism from many cricket experts. The Karnataka batter might have to first cement his place in India's playing XI before harboring any hopes of being their future full-time skipper.