Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw front-runners for India captaincy: Gautam Gambhir

Hardik Pandya has led India in T20I against Ireland, New Zealand

The limelight around Hardik Pandya got brightened three folds after Rohit Sharma failed in breaking India's nine-year-old jinx of not winning an ICC event. Various former cricketers and pundits have backed the idea of split captaincy -- at least in the T20I format. 

Hardik - who first captained India back in June 2022 against Ireland - got things in favour when he led Gujarat Titans to their maiden title in their maiden attempt. Since his comeback in the IPL, the flamboyant allrounder has shown tremendous character and calmness, which are great signs of a leader.

The latest to join the split captaincy discussion is former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who not just backed Hardik but also named Prithvi Shaw as a future candidate for Indian captaincy. 

"Hardik Pandya obviously is in line. 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 stated in a function hosted in New Delhi on Sunday. 

"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."

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

The 23-year-old Shaw has captaincy experience in leading India Under-19 and Mumbai. However, the youngster has been getting ignored by the national selectors after failing doping and fitness tests. 

The young prodigy, who has been a consistent run-scorer in domestic cricket and the IPL, last played for the Men in Blue way back in July 2021. 

Also Read: Mark Wood ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan due to injury