Shubman Gill or Shreyas Iyer or Hardik Pandya? Suresh Raina reveals his pick as India's next white-ball captain

Suresh Raina backed Hardik Pandya to be India’s next skipper in the white-ball format.

Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has revealed his captaincy choice for the Indian Cricket Team in the white-ball format. He feels that Hardik Pandya should get preference ahead of Shubman Gill as he has qualities similar to MS Dhoni. 

The Indian Cricket Team has pressed the pedal of the transition. In tests and T20Is, the youngsters have taken over completely, while ODIs still have experienced players in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others in the mix and are likely to be there for a while. 

However, the captaincy talks have already started. Shubman Gill was recently appointed as the test captain, and there have been reports that he will soon be taking over the leadership of the side in the other two formats as well. Also, Shreyas Iyer’s name has been floating around as well. 

Hardik Pandya will do a lot of miracles in white-ball cricket as a captain – Suresh Raina

Various experts have also backed Shubman Gill to be India’s next ODI captain. But Suresh Raina, a former match-winner for India, suggested something else. He feels that Hardik Pandya should be preferred over Gill. 

Raina pointed out how Hardik Pandya has been positive and added that there’s a glimpse of MS Dhoni in the all-rounder. Speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel, he said: 

“Shubman Gill any day, the way they decide, but I think Hardik Pandya will do a lot of miracles in white-ball cricket as a captain. Even Shubman Gill can be that guy. Hopefully, he [Hardik] should become captain again. He has experience like Kapil Paji whether it’s batting, bowling or fielding.”

“And he’s a very, very positive guy. The way he has performed, he is a captain for the players. I see a glimpse of MS Dhoni in him — the way he interacts, conducts himself on the ground, the energy, I like the most.” 

Hardik Pandya was set to become the T20I skipper of India as ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, when seniors were rested, Pandya led the team in the format. But due to the fitness issues and the workload management, he wasn’t trusted by the selectors and Suryakumar Yadav was preferred ahead of him whe Rohit retired from the format.

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