Rohit Sharma T20s Retirement: Who Will Replace “Hitman” as India’s T20 Captain?

India has ended the 17 year T20 World Cup trophy drought. Rohit Sharma after leading India to historic victory, announced his retirement from T20Is.

His teammate, Virat Kohli announced the retirement minutes after the match. While Rohit Sharma made an official announcement at the press conference after the historic triumph. Sharma was desperate for this win,

“This was my last game as well. No better time to say goodbye. I wanted this (trophy) badly. It’s very hard to put in words. This what I wanted and it happened. I was very desperate for this in my life. Happy that we crossed the line this time,” 

This is the second time Rohit has witnessed the T20 World Cup victory. Young Rohit was also part of the India’s first title win of inaugural session of T20 World Cup in 2007.

Now that captain bids his farewell, question arises who will replace him? The expected names to replace the hitman as India’s T20 captain include:

1.Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya, India’s vice-captain has played a pivotal role in leading India to championship victory. Pandya scored 144 runs and fetched 11 wickets throughout the T20 World Cup 2024 tournament, including the significant 3 wickets against South Africa in the final.

In IPL, Pandya debuted with Mumbai Indians in 2015, where he presented himself as a prudent allrounder. He was part of their title wins in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. And due to his injury was released after 2021 session.

Gujarat Titans (GT) , in 2022 appointed him as Captain and he led them to title win. After two successful years with Titans was traded back to MI. At Mumbai Indians, he replaced Rohit Sharma from the captaincy position. He can be the most preferred choice to lead India after Rohit in T20Is.

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant in T20 has mustered over 3000 runs in eight seasons for Delhi Capitals. Pant made his debut with IPL in 2016. He was bought by DC and remains with them ever since.

In IPL 2018, he was at his best with the bat, scoring 684 runs at a strike rate of 173.60. Later in 2021, he was appointed as the captain.

When he returned in 2024 to DC after a horrible car accident, he was placed back to his captaincy position. He didn’t disappoint his team and was back in his form, made 446 runs in the season. Rishabh resonates MS Dhoni as an important T20 player who is also a keeper like Dhoni.

3. Jasprit Bumrah

The key player of Mumbai Indians, is their highest wicket-taker after Lasith Malinga. His first IPL wicket was of Virat Kohli and 100th IPL wicket was also, that of Virat Kohli.

In three of their IPL title wins, Boom Boom Bumrah took 20 wickets in 2017, 19 in 2019, and 27 in 2020. He was also part of the squad when Mumbai won titles in 2013 and 2015. A match winner, can also be the choice, given his experience as a senior.

4. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav, plays under Rohit and Pandya in the IPL. He is part of the Mumbai Indian squad. Because of his explosive batting in T20 cricket, he is often compared to the veteran AB de villers for his 360-degree range of shots.

We may see him as the new face of Indian T20 cricket. Famously known as SKY, was also part of Kolkata Knight Riders. In the 2018 IPL auction, MI bought SKY once again. He scored his best in 2023 season, amassing 605 runs at a strike rate of 181.14. He was also part of two title wins of MI – 2019 and 2020.

5.Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill, is a known big run scorer. He has scored 3,094 runs in 100 IPL matches, at an average of 38.12 and a strike rate of 135.14. He has been a key player in Gujrat Titans winning campaign in IPL 2022.

For IPL 2024, Gill was appointed as the captain of Gujrat Titans. In IPL 2023, he was the orange cap winner. He scored the second-highest aggregate in a season (890 runs at a strike rate of 157.80 ) in the IPL history for Gujarat Titans. His strength as a high run-scorer places makes resemblance with former Indian captain, Virat Kohli.