"If he plays the World Cup, then he will be the captain": Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma ahead of ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Aakash Chopra believes that Rohit Sharma will lead India even if Hardik Pandya is in the playing 11 for the forthcoming T20 World Cup which is taking place in the West Indies and the United States of America.

New Delhi [India], January 8 (ANI): Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra believes that star India batter, Rohit Sharma will lead India even if Hardik Pandya is in the playing 11 for the forthcoming T20 World Cup which is taking place in the West Indies and the United States of America.

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The Indian selector committee has announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan starting on Thursday. The three-match series will be played at Mohali, Bengaluru, and Indore respectively.

Last month, the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians have elected Hardik as their skipper ahead of Rohit for the IPL 2024 but Chopra opined that Rohit should only lead the Men in Blue in the upcoming mega event on his YouTube channel.

"Rohit Sharma is now the captain and I feel he will be the captain in the World Cup as well. I feel this was a landmark selection, because if Rohit remains captain, he will play the World Cup. If he plays the World Cup, then he will be the captain," said Chopra.

"Don't think that Hardik will become captain once he is back. I can almost give it in writing. I can't guarantee anything but the chances are very less that Rohit Sharma will be there and won't be the captain," the commentator stated.

India squad for Afghanistan T20I series: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar. (ANI)