Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian batsman, thinks Prithvi Shaw may someday run for captain of India. Shaw was a more surprising decision 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. He 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 guided India to a 1-0 series victory in the T20Is played in New Zealand.
At a gathering held by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) on Sunday in New Delhi, Gambhir stated, “Hardik Pandya certainly is in line.” But it will be terrible for Rohit since, in my opinion, it is unfair to evaluate him based just on his captaincy during a single ICC match.
Gambhir didn’t indicate in which format he regarded Shaw as a future captain, but the other selection, Shaw, has failed to earn a regular spot even in India’s second-string squads over the last year. Shaw has experienced more than simply a loss of form throughout the course of his brief career. His health and lifestyle choices have been under investigation ever since he was banned 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 much below the minimal requirement for males set by the BCCI, which is 16.5.
Shaw only got 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. 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.
Gambhir stated, “I know a lot of people speak about Prithvi Shaw’s off-field activities, but that is what the coach and the selectors are for. The task of the selectors is to lead individuals along the proper road in addition to choosing the 15 finalists.
Prithvi Shaw is someone who, in my opinion, has the potential to be a very aggressive captain and a very successful captain because you can see that aggression in the way a person plays the game.
Shaw has recently played domestically for Mumbai, where he finished second in runs scored in 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 present Vijay Hazare Trophy 50-over tournament 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.
