Irfan Pathan has selected four Indian players he believes could lead the Indian cricket team following Rohit Sharma’s tenure.
Irfan Pathan has identified Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav as potential leaders to succeed Rohit Sharma for Team India. Each of these players has considerable experience in leadership roles and has captained the Indian team on multiple occasions.
Bumrah recently led the team during India’s tour of Ireland, while Pandya took charge of the T20Is post the 2022 T20 World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav also had his stint leading the Men in Blue during the white-ball leg of South Africa’s tour last year, and Pant showcased his leadership skills during a home series.
In an exclusive chat with Star Sports, Irfan Pathan, responding to host Jatin Sapru’s query, named Pant, Pandya, Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav as potential future leaders for Team India. However, he also expressed his belief that none of them could surpass Rohit Sharma’s leadership prowess.
“As far as captaincy is concerned, he is the best leader you have. We always talk about the players, but leadership is a totally different thing,” Irfan Pathan said via Star Sports.
Irfan Pathan emphasized that the Indian team management will be closely monitoring the seasoned players Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. He expressed confidence in Hardik Pandya, the team’s vice-captain, stating there are no doubts about him. Regarding Rishabh Pant, Pathan mentioned that Pant was already in consideration before he was involved in a serious car accident in December 2022.
“In the future, they will be keeping an eye on Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah as far as captaincy is concerned. Now we have Hardik Pandya as the Vice Captain, Rishabh Pant is also there in your leadership role group if he gets going because he was there in the leadership role before he got injured. So there are three or four guys who are ready, but Rohit is the number one,” Irfan Pathan concluded.
