Over the past 12 months, Hardik Pandya has led the India team in T20Is.
After India's heartbreaking World Cup final defeat to
Australia last week, the biggest topic of discussion has been the future of
veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in T20Is. With the T20 World Cup to
be held next year, Team India is set to enter a transition phase. Reports have
claimed that head coach Rahul Dravid is unlikely to continue extend his
contract, with Rohit also unlikely to feature in the shortest format. While
there was no mention of Kohli in those reports, the former India captain has
also not played a T20I in over an year.
Over the past 12 months, Hardik Pandya has led the team in T20Is, which
is an indication that he is likely to continue with the same going forward.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels India don't have a better
opener than Rohit and that both he and Kohli have a lot of cricket left in
them.
"If you ask do Rohit and Kohli have cricket left in
them? Yes, definitely. Do you get a better opener than Rohit in the world right
now? No, you don't," Akhtar said on Zee News.
Akhtar added that if India does go through a transitional
phase, it's Hardik's responsibility to make Rohit and Virat phase out
respectfully.
"When Dhoni came, he gave respect to Sachin Tendulkar. When Virat came, he respected
Dhoni. When Rohit replaced Virat, he also gave him respect. So, now it's up to
Hardik Pandya how he wants to send these two great players off. It's up to him
now to put his foot down. And he has to bid them goodbye respectfully. They
deserve this respect. I'm maybe putting pressure on Hardik Pandya through this
but he needs to give that respect to Rohit and Kohli. He is in the team because
of them. The kind of favours he has got in the team from them should be repaid.
And they are legends of Indian cricket, so they should be given due respect
before they are let go," he added.
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