'He's my next captain in-line after Rohit Sharma in white-ball formats': Wasim Jaffer on star India player

On Wednesday (June 15), Hardik Pandya was named as India's captain for their upcoming two-match T20I series versus Ireland, in Dublin. Thus, Hardik will get a chance to lead India for the first time as he has been rightly rewarded for his maiden stint as an IPL skipper in the 15th season, where he led debutants Gujarat Titans (GT) to the championship.

Thus, Hardik joins the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah who are among the younger lot being considered for India captain after Rohit Sharma's stint is over. Ahead of Hardik's captaincy stint for India, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has picked him as the next white-ball captain after Rohit. In addition, Jaffer wants Hardik to be India's first choice vice-captain in the shorter formats, instead of KL Rahul.

“He deserves it. Going forward, Indian selectors should look at him seriously for leading in white ball cricket. Especially if Rohit Sharma is not available, Hardik Pandya should be the first choice in my opinion. The way he led in the IPL, the way his performances came through, he is somebody who relishes that job. Going forward he is probably my number one choice after Rohit Sharma,” said Jaffer on ESPNCricinfo.

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“If Rohit is playing, I would like Hardik to be the vice-captain in white ball cricket. He is somebody who enjoys their job and gets the best out of himself and others. Everybody feels at home and he gets the best out of the other players. So he is my next in line after Rohit Sharma,” added Jaffer.

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While Hardik has been named as the captain for the Ireland tour, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will serve as his deputy whereas many young and uncapped IPL stars such as Umran Malik, Rahul Tripathi, Arshdeep Singh are also part of the 17-member squad. Dinesh Karthik has retained his spot whereas Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson make a comeback.

India's T20I squad:Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik