• Source:JND
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All eyes will be on the announcement of India's next T20I captain after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the shortest format post team's T20 World Cup victory.

India achieved a monumental success under Rohit's captaincy as they clinched the title in the T20 World Cup 2024 after beating South Africa by seven runs in the final in Barbados on Saturday.

Amid all the celebrations, the speculations are already surfacing over India's next T20I skipper to which BCCI secretary Jay Shah has responded.

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While senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya is on the radar for taking over the role on a full-time basis, Shah said that Rohit’s replacement will be announced after discussions with the selectors.

"Captaincy will be decided by the selectors, and we will announce it after discussing it with them. You asked about Hardik, there were a lot of questions over his form but we and the selectors showed faith in him and he proved himself,” he said.

Pandya put up a fighting effort for the national team and emerged as a key contributor in the T20 World Cup 2024 as he took his place on the top of the world after a few tough months.

The 30-year-old received massive criticism after replacing Rohit Sharma to become the new captain of Mumbai Indians.

The negative backlash from most of the cricketing circle including fans not only affected his game but the team's horrible performance gave rise to speculations over his rift with his teammates.

However, the star player was far from giving up and his spirited effort played a key hand in helping India end an 11-year-old wait for an ICC trophy.

Notably, Hardik captained India's T20I side for a while after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli took a break from the format after the team's semi-final defeat against England in T20 World Cup 2022.

With Hardik dealing with injury issues and T20 WC 2024 approaching, the selectors decided to bring back Rohit and Kohli with the former leading the side again.

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Hardik has captained India in 16 T20Is and led them to wins in 10 of them.

He is believed to be a proven captain in the T20 format, having led Gujarat Titans to an IPL title in 2022 and a place in the final the following season.

Apart from his contribution of 144 runs and 11 wickets in the recently concluded T20 WC, the ability to stand tall against tough situations speaks volumes of Pandya's mental toughness which is a much-needed skill to lead India.