Report suggests Rishabh Pant holds edge over Hardik Pandya for T20 World Cup vice-captaincy role

Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant. (Source -Getty Images)

With May 1, 2024, being the deadline for squads to announce their preliminary drafts for the T20 World Cup to be played in the month of June, there’s been widespread speculation regarding the role of the deputy to skipper Rohit Sharma in the setup.

Rishabh Pant is leading the way for the Delhi Capitals with the bat with 371 runs in 10 innings so far, as well as doing a pretty good job as their leader, staging a comeback after his side was floundering at the bottom position for the initial few games, the wicket-keeper batter has made a statement for himself regarding the role of vice-captain. For the record, Pant has also been tagged as the first-choice for being India’s wicketkeeper going into the tournament.

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Having said this, Hardik’s credentials cannot be left unnoticed, with the all-rounder having come up clutch in quite a few big-ticket matches in the most crucial junctures of prominent tournaments. However, his underwhelming performances with the ball in the ongoing edition of the IPL, coupled with some questionable decisions as well as public criticism implicitly directed towards him, have kept the debate open on whether he could be entrusted with the colossal role of being the vice-captain of the star-studded Indian lineup.

Apart from the usual top and middle-order comprising Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Pant, Hardik, and Jadeja, one or both of Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh are deemed to make the cut, along with either Sanju Samson or KL Rahul.

With Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh being the sure-shot pacers to be included in the 15-member squad, the re-emergence of Sandeep Sharma this IPL with his crafty medium-pace as well as pinpoint death-bowling has boosted his chances for being taken along by a significant level.

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According to how things have panned out as of now, Axar Patel might just pip Ravi Bishnoi to be India’s second-choice with Kuldeep Yadav being deemed the leader of the spin-bowling pack. Things look gloomy for the IPL’s all-time leading wicket-taker, and it’s extremely probable that he might unfortunately miss out.

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