Hardik Pandya, according to legendary Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar, might be a potential captaincy candidate for India's white-ball team in the future. Fit-again Pandya has led new entrants Gujarat Titans to the final of the cash-rich IPL 2022 season, making an outstanding captaincy debut. 

Pandya has scarcely put a foot wrong in the IPL 2022 since taking over as the Gujarat-based franchise's leader. The legendary cricketer flashed a peek of his all-around brilliance. Pandya has been outstanding for new arrivals this season with the willow.

Gujarat, who finished first in the league stage with 10 wins in 14 matches, was also the first team to make it into the playoffs. They then beat RR in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2022, to qualify for the finals. 

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With Gujarat poised to make history under Pandya's guidance on Sunday, former Pakistani fast bowler Akhtar has endorsed the GT's ace all-rounder as a perfect captain.

“It is the fact that Hardik Pandya is leaving a mark. He is knocking on the door of Indian captaincy. One is not sure how long Rohit Sharma will continue as captain,” Akhtar told Sportskeeda.

Pandya, on the other hand, should work on his fitness and bowling, according to Akhtar, because the star all-rounder used to be an obvious choice in the Indian team. After a successful season with the Gujarat Titans, Pandya has returned to the India team for the South Africa T20I series.

“It’s never easy to captain the Indian cricket team. Hardik has proved his point (as a leader) but he still needs to focus on his fitness and bowling. When he was fit as an all-rounder, he was an automatic choice in the Indian team. As a pure batter, though, there is no vacancy in the Indian team,” Akhtar added.