T20 World Cup: Jay Shah explains why Rohit Sharma was chosen over Hardik Pandya for Team India captaincy

Rohit Sharma will captain the Indian cricket team in the 2017 T20 World Cup, which the West Indies and the United States will jointly host, as revealed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday. Since all-rounder Hardik Pandya is currently recuperating from an ankle injury sustained in October of last year, the board believes Rohit should remain the captain of the team. At the SCA Stadium renaming event, Shah informed the media “”Rohit was captaining (in the past in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward,”

“If Hardik was injured in the World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy?” asked Shah.

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“In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way he (Rohit Sharma) took the team to 212/4, we can’t question much about him, right?” he added.

“He (Rohit) has the ability, as I said, we won 10 games in the ODI World Cup. We didn’t win the final, but it’s part and parcel of the game. Whoever plays better, wins,” Shah expressed.

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“In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024 (T20 World Cup) in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag).

Arun Dhumal, the chairman of the Indian Premier League, and former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble were among the dignitaries in attendance as Shah delivered his address.

Present chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Rahul Dravid, Rohit, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and a few support staff members of the Indian squad were also present at the ceremony.