T20 World Cup 2024: Rishabh Pant to be considered for vice-captaincy ahead of Hardik Pandya - Report

The Indian men’s team selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar will have a tough decision in hand to choose the team for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. Ahead of the team selection, one of the reports has suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering dropping Hardik Pandya from the Indian squad and instead naming Rishabh Pant as thevice-captain. India will try to end their 17-year wait for the T20 World Cup victory this year as Rohit Sharma and Co. aim to end their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.

Pant instead ofPandya in T20 World Cup?

According to Cricbuzz, the selectorsare strongly consideringPant as an alternative for Pandya in the deputy's role. While the selectors panel will not consider Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as the performance matrix to choose the team, they still reckon that Pant will be a better choice to be Rohit’s deputy. Pandya’s performancein the IPL 2024 is also amajorconcern for the selectors as he struggled with the ball.

Bringing Pant into the Indian side will help team India resolve two issuesincludingthe wicketkeeperand pinch-hitter’s role.Alongside,Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson and KL Rahul, Pant is one of the prominent options to play as a wicketkeeper. If Pant does return to the Indian side, it will be his first match for the national side since December 2022, when he represented India against Bangladesh in the Test series.

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Ahead of selection, the panel is also keeping tabs on other departmentswithplayers like Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj on the brink of getting dropped.While form is not an issue for them getting dropped,it is competition for places thatcould force Gill and Siraj to sit out.

For now,the likes ofRohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and RavindraJadeja,remain the only names assured of a place in the team.