ICC T20 World Cup 2022: India was knocked out by England in the semis in Adelaide on Thursday. Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar feels that if Rohit Sharma steps down, Hardik Pandya might be the new skipper.
Legendary former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar envisions a few senior players announcing their retirements following former champion India's mortifying 10-wicket flop versus fellow former champion England in the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. Gavaskar also senses that all-rounder Hardik Pandya might take over the captaincy reins if and once Rohit Sharma decides to step down.
"Having won the Indian Premier League on his first assignment as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain. Hardik Pandya will take over the team in the future, and there will be some retirements. You never know. Players will be giving it a lot of thought. Several players in their mid-30s will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
England whipped India by ten wickets, with openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler hitting defining half-centuries. Former Indian skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli has been the highest scorer in this T20WC. However, it has been an unimpressive outing for other senior players, like skipper-cum-opener Rohit Sharma, veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and veteran wicketkeeper-finisher Dinesh Karthik, who are in their mid-30s.
Meanwhile, Pandya expressed his grief at India's pitiful exit from the T20WC semis, as he wrote on Twitter, "Devastated, gutted, hurt. Tough to take for all of us. To my teammates, I've enjoyed the bond that we built - we fought for each other every step of the way. Thank you to our support staff for their endless dedication and hard work for months on end. To our fans who backed us everywhere we went, we're forever grateful. It wasn't meant to be, but we'll reflect and keep fighting."
(With inputs from PTI)