Cricket News : Gambhir picks Hardik & Shaw as India's future captaincy candidates

Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian batsman, thinks Prithvi Shaw might someday run for captain of India. Shaw was a more surprising choice because he hasn't competed for India since July 2021,but Gambhir also chose Hardik Pandya, who has already captained India in T20Is.

Following India's loss from the T20 World Cup semi-finals last month, Hardik has been mentioned as a potential Rohit Sharma replacement, at least for T20 Internationals. He has earned some captaincy experience through time as well.

The Indian all-rounder guided the newly minted Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in May and then took India's T20I team on its first-ever trip of Ireland, where they won the series 2-0.

More recently, without experienced players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul, he led India to a 1-0 series victory in the T20Is played in New Zealand.

"Hardik Pandya obviously is in line,"

Gambhir said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry(FICCI) in New Delhi on Sunday.

"But that's going to be unfortunate for Rohit because I think judging his captaincy in only one ICC event is not the right way to probably judge him."

Gambhir didn't indicate in which format he regarded Shaw as a future captain, but the other pick, Shaw, has failed to earn a regular spot even in India's second-string squads over the past year.

Shaw has experienced more than simply a loss of form throughout the course of his brief career. His fitness and lifestyle choices have come under investigation ever since he was suspended for a doping offence in 2019.

According to reports, Shaw failed a yo-yo test in March of this year. His score of less than 15 was well below the minimal requirement for males set by the BCCI, which is 16.5.

Shaw only managed to play four more Tests after making his Test debut in 2018, the same year he helped India win the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

"The reason I've picked Prithvi Shaw, I know a lot of people talk about his off-field activities, but that is what the job of the coach and the selectors are,"

Gambhir said.

"The selectors' job isn't just to pick the 15, but also to get people walk the right path."

"Prithvi Shaw is one I feel can be a very aggressive captain, a very successful captain because you see that aggression in the way a person plays the sport."

Shaw has made just infrequent appearances in restricted overs. He last represented India in July 2021, when he travelled to Sri Lanka with a reserve team for three ODIs and as many T20Is.

Shaw has recently played domestically for Mumbai, where he finished second in runs scored at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s. His career-best 61-ball 134 against Assam was one of the 332 runs he scored in 10 innings with a strike rate of 181.42.

His performance in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 50-over competition was inconsistent; against inexperienced Mizoram and Railways, he scored just two half-centuries. In total, he only managed 217 runs in seven innings, averaging 31. He was outperformed by fellow top-order batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 396 runs in six innings to lead Mumbai, which was eliminated before the quarterfinals.

In addition to leading India Under-19, Shaw has accumulated considerable captaincy experience with Mumbai throughout time. He oversaw a group of players at the junior level, several of whom are now regulars in the IPL.

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