EVERY time a World Cup comes to an end, it gives teams time to reflect and learn from the campaign and build a core group for the next cycle. Minutes after winning the title in 2011, former Indian captain MS Dhoni famously said, “We can close the chapter right now for this World Cup because we need to build up a team again.” In 2021, India tried to do that with change in the leadership group. And as they take on New Zealand a week after their exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup, this could be the beginning of their rebuilding process, at least in the shortest format.
For starters, they have a new captain in Hardik Pandya. Albeit stand-in, this will be his first assignment as skipper against a top team. In the last six months, Pandya has grown into a leadership figure in Indian cricket. He led debutants Gujarat Titans to title in the Indian Premier League, captained India against Ireland and now, is in-charge of a young team that could begin its transition. And in the absence of the senior pros at the top-order, it could be a testing ground for him and the youngsters.
While India have used several captains across formats in 2022, the time might be right for India to look for a different skipper for T20Is. That Rohit Sharma being 35 and would be captaining in ODIs as well as Tests with the World Cup and World Test Championship in focus only adds to it. Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels so. “There's no harm in having a new captain because the volume of cricket is such that for one player to play all three formats of the game is never going to be easy,” said Shastri in an interaction facilitated by Prime Video on Thursday.
“If Rohit is already leading in one-days and Test matches, there's no harm in identifying a new T20 captain. And if his name is Hardik Pandya, so be it,” Shastri added.
While Pandya said that the next T20 World Cup is too far to think about, he knows that it all begins now. He said as much. “The roadmap starts now, but it is too far ahead right now. We have time, we will start having conversations on those grounds, right now, it is about making sure that we let the boys enjoy themselves while playing here,” Pandya said on Wednesday.
Whether the change in guard will happen or not is something one has to wait and see. But irrespective of the captain, there is no doubt regarding the need for change in India’s approach in the shortest format. And they have the arsenal to do that as well — Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Umran Malik, Deepak Hooda to name a few. Speaking on the lines, India’s head coach for the series VVS Laxman said that it is important to be aggressive in the shortest format. “We have the guys who have this ability to express themselves. So that's the message from the captain and myself: be aggressive, but also focus on conditions and situations, and use that experience,” Laxman said ahead of the first T20I in Wellington.
The New Zealand tour will be India’s last T20I assignment in 2022. Things could be a lot different for India come 2023. But for now, it is important to see how Pandya and Co go about their business in the three-match T20I series. Because as Pandya said, the roadmap starts now.
India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I, Live on Prime Video from 11 AM