Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has backed Rohit Sharma to captain the Men in Blue side in next year’s T20 World Cup ahead of Hardik Pandya. The 2024 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is set to take place in the West Indies and the USA next year.

India is the No. 1 team in the T20I rankings and will be one of the favorites to win the title. Other teams vying for the title will be Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan, apart from hosts West Indies.

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan said that Rohit Sharma should lead the Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup next year.

Rohit last played a T20I match in November 22, which was the semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Since then, there are lots of question marks on his future in the T20Is, as since then Hardik Pandya has captained the side mainly in the shortest format.

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“Well, because the T20 World Cup is just around the corner and there is not a lot of time, you have to go in with experience. You will have to give that preference to the experienced guy, and I will not be surprised if they decide to go ahead with Rohit Sharma himself,” Zaheer told Cricbuzz.

“He’s the guy who has been around for a while. He understands handling situations, handling pressure, and all those kinds of aspects. You still have time for all these other names that are on that list to take the mantle forward. It’s just around six months (for the World Cup to begin).

You have a big tournament like the IPL in between, which will give them enough time to prepare. So, it’s either going to be Rohit Sharma or, depending on how Hardik goes about his rehab, his comeback. The challenge is that he’s not going to be playing that many games,” he added.

Since Hardik Pandya is recovering from his ankle injury, Suryakumar Yadav is leading India in the ongoing T20I series against Australia, which the hosts lead 2-0.