"Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be the captain and vice-captain leading into the World Cup" - Dinesh Karthik

Veteran Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik feels that Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be in leadership positions leading to the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil. The 37-year-old feels star all-rounder Hardik has staked a strong claim to be vice-captain after leading the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the IPL 2022 title.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, December 27, named their squads for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka.

While Rohit will lead the Men in Blue in the ODIs, Hardik will captain the team in the shortest format. The latter could also lead India at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said the leadership of the Indian team is a close call between the two, who are both big names. The Tamil Nadu cricketer admitted that KL Rahul has fallen down the pecking order after Gujarat Titans' win in IPL 2022. He explained:

"For the moment, it looks like even though there are a lot of other leaders who have captained India in the recent 12 months because of the amount of cricket played with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant.

"All these players donning the captain's hat for a bit. Jasprit Bumrah as well. But for the moment, it will be a toss up between Rohit and Hardik Pandya or rather Rohit and Hardik Pandya will be the captain and vice-captain leading into the World Cup for sure."

He added:

"I think leadership definitely, for me, is a close call. And I think it will be between Rohit and Hardik. These two are the big names.

"I know KL Rahul has been the white-ball vice-captain, but I do think Hardik Pandya has thrown his name strongly in the mix and it will be captain vice-captain role between a Hardik and a Rohit in the coming 12 months because I think he has shown his skills in the IPL as a leader and that might be coming through soon for team India as well."

The 2022 edition of the IPL saw the Baroda all-rounder captain for the first time. Along with his leadership skills, he also flourished with the bat, scoring 487 runs in 15 games at 44.27. He even picked up figures of 4-0-17-3 in the final to fashion a seven-wicket win for the Titans.

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Hardik Pandya is yet to lose a T20I game as captain

Hardik Pandya. (Image Credits: Getty)

The swashbuckling all-rounder is also yet to lose a T20I game as captain, leading India in five matches so far. The 29-year-old first captained India in the two-game T20I series against Ireland in June, followed by one match against the West Indies in August.

He recently ushered the Men in Blue to a series victory in New Zealand, winning the three-game series by a 2-0 margin.

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