Bumrah is leading India in the ongoing T20I tour of Ireland.
Ever since India’s ouster from the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final, the team has been led by two different captains in the white-ball formats. Hardik has led the Men in Blue in T20Is whereas Rohit Sharma continues to lead the side in the 50-over format.
Now, a report published in PTI claims that Bumrah, who made his international comeback in the first T20I against Ireland on Friday (August 18) after a gap of 11 months, is set to give tough competition to Pandya.
"If you look in terms of leadership seniority, Bumrah is ahead of Pandya as he captained the Test team in 2022. He has also been ODI vice-captain before Pandya during the ODI tour of South Africa.
"Don't be surprised if you see Bumrah being made an ODI deputy to Rohit for both Asia Cup and World Cup. There is a reason why he was handed captaincy in Ireland instead of Ruturaj," a BCCI source in know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Hardik Pandya was appointed India’s T20I captain after he led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title last year. His leadership also impressed the fans and cricket pundits in the 2023 edition as the team qualified for the IPL final.
However, Pandya has failed to live up to the expectations in his short stint as India’s skipper in the shortest format. Under his captaincy, the Men in Blue recently lost the five-match T20I series to the seventh-ranked West Indies side.
(With PTI Inputs)