‘You need to find not one, but two leaders’- Irfan Pathan on grooming Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes that in the run-up to the 20-20 World Cup in 2024, India should groom more than one of their stars as potential future captains. He emphasised the importance of having backup plans. Pathan believes Hardik Pandya is the frontrunner to succeed Rohit Sharma as India’s T20I captain in the future, but he believes India should focus on developing a pool of leaders.

In the absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the tour, Hardik is set to lead India in a three-match T20I series in New Zealand beginning November 18. Former cricketers, however, have called for Hardik to be named India’s full-time captain for T20Is, with the next T20 World Cup coming up in two years.

You’ll be in a mess: Irfan Pathan on not having a backup

Irfan Pathan, on the other hand, noted that Hardik Pandya has had injury issues in the past and that having more than one captaincy candidate in the lead-up to the 20-20 World Cup in 2024 is ideal.

“I’m not saying that if you change the captain you change the result, if you go like that you’re not going to change the result. And with Hardik Pandya, you need to understand, we all need to understand, that he’s a fast bowling all-rounder. He has injury issues as well. What if he is your captain who is getting injured right before the World cup? And if you don’t have any other leader ready, you’ll be in a mess,” Irfan said during the Star Sports show ‘Match Point’.

“So, what I personally think is that Hardik Pandya is a leader, who has done very well in the Gujarat Titians, won IPL, won the championship trophy. You need to find not one, but two leaders going forward to build their mark. You know just like we talk about openers – we need to have a group of openers, we also need to have a group of leaders,” he added.