Hardik Pandya overlooked as AB de Villiers picks 'incredible' successor of Rohit Sharma as India captain
AB de Villiers overlooked all the options, including the much-touted Hardik Pandya to name an “incredible player” as Rohit's successor for India captaincy role.
The selectors and the team management are likely to look beyond Rohit Sharma at the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup, slated to be held in October in India. The 35-year-old has been leading India as a full-time skipper across formats since last year although the selectors had named a couple of options who were to be groomed under him to be his successor. But South Africa batting legend AB de Villiers has overlooked all the options, including the much-touted Hardik Pandya to name an “incredible player” as Rohit's successor for the India captaincy role.
Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah were the three names selectors mentioned, who were to be trained to take over the role from Rohit. And all got their respective opportunities to lead India as well in various formats over 2022. But none managed to impress as much as Hardik, who emerged as a surprising option after he led Gujarat Titans to IPL title glory in their debut season last year.
Veterans and experts have together hailed Hardik as the able future leader of India as far as white-ball cricket is concerned with the all-rounder having the team in 12 matches, 11 of which were in the T20I format.
However, De Villiers, in conversation with Jio Cinemas during the ongoing IPL 2023 season, overlooked Hardik to name Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson as an “incredible and wonderful” option as Rohit's successor, adding that it could probably happen in a 1-2 year's time.
“Sanju Samson is an incredible player. He is composed, calm and relaxed kind of guy. Strategically I think he’s pretty sound. I think he can still improve and will still improve over time as he gets more experience and spends more time with someone like Jos Buttler, which is a fantastic asset for him to have in his ear all the time. He’s got so much to learn there,” De Villiers said.
“But I think he’s got all the credentials to be a wonderful captain. Who knows, possibly even one day in a year or two or three’s time, in one of the formats in the India team, he could very easily be the captain there, and I think it will do his cricket the world of good. If he can stay as captain for long periods of time, I think he’s going to go places with it."
Despite DE Villiers' big words, Samson is yet to cement his spot in India's white-ball team. He was picked for a home series earlier in December last year only to be ruled out with an injury and since then did not return to the sport until IPL 2023.
