Kapil Dev picks IPL-winning skipper as India’s next white-ball captain

Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev recently shared his take on Rohit Sharma’s potential successor as the Men in Blue’s white-ball captain. Instead of picking India’s 2025 Champions Trophy vice-captain Shubman Gill or senior player KL Rahul, he emphasized that all-rounder Hardik Pandya deserved the leadership role.

Dev stated that Hardik was his preferred choice as Team India’s next white-ball skipper. He opined that with age by his side, the 31-year-old can build a team around him for the upcoming ICC tournaments.

During a PGTI pro-am event in Greater Noida, Kapil Dev said (via MyKhel):

“To me, Hardik Pandya is my white ball captain. There are many contenders for the post but Pandya is my choice. Pandya is relatively young and can build a team around him for the next ICC events.”

It is worth mentioning that Hardik was Sharma’s deputy in India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. He seemed to be the frontrunner to lead the side in the format following Sharma’s retirement from T20Is after the showpiece event.

However, there was a change of plans after the arrival of new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India’s T20I captain and Hardik ended up losing his vice-captaincy from both white-ball formats.

“Should also play Test cricket” – Kapil Dev wants to see Hardik Pandya feature in red-ball cricket as well

During the discussion, Kapil Dev also stated that Hardik Pandya should consider playing Test cricket again. The player has donned the India whites for 11 matches, with his last appearance dating back to September 2018.

Dev reckoned that India would need multiple captains as Hardik wasn’t part of the red-ball side. The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper remarked:

“Ideally, Hardik should also play Test cricket and since he isn’t playing, India will need multiple captain for three formats.”

Hardik is currently leading Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2025. India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma and T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav are playing under his leadership in the league.

With just one victory from their first four outings, Mumbai are placed eighth in the points table. They take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, April 7, next.

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Aditya writes news, features, listicles, and exclusive pieces at Sportskeeda as a cricket journalist. After completing his MBA in Sports Management from Symbiosis, he started his professional journey and has a total work experience of 4 years, which included a stint at Republic World. Impressively, he has also done exclusive on-site coverage of two T20 World Cups (2021, 2022), the 2023 ODI World Cup, and 5 editions of IPL, and boasts a total readership of close to 12 million at Sportskeeda. He has also played cricket professionally at the AIU Zonal level for Ahmedabad district.

Aditya admires Virat Kohli’s exemplary discipline, dedication, and hard work. Kohli’s ‘Shot of the Century’ against Haris Rauf is a moment that left a lasting impact on him, ultimately teaching him a valuable life lesson that self-belief will always bear fruit. His favorite teams are the Indian Cricket Team and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava