Former India opening batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu has backed star all-rounder Hardik Pandya to succeed Rohit Sharma as full-time captain of the national team if he decides to resign. Hardik, who has captained India on several occasions and is currently leading Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2024, took over from Rohit as captain ahead of the auction. Sidhu believes Hardik is the future of the Indian team and added that BCCI did the right thing by grooming him as captain.

“Hardik Pandya is the future. Rohit is now around 36-37 years old. He still has a few years left. He is a great captain and a great player. If you ask me, he is the best in sports Poetry. Whenever I see him, it looks like time has stopped. But, you have to really look forward and be ready for someone to take over,” Sidhu told India Today.

“I am not advocating Hardik Pandya as Test captain. But, he is your vice-captain. He has captained India in T20Is for almost a year when Rohit was not available . Hardik is the natural choice for you guys. That’s why BCCI appointed him “Vice-captain of the team.” A lot of planning and consideration needs to be done before BCCI gets the call. Hardik is the natural choice for the white-ball team captain,” he added.

Sidhu, however, backed Jasprit Bumrah to take over Rohit’s captaincy in Test cricket, adding that the star pacer “worths” a try.

“If you look at the red ball, BCCI has planned ahead. Jasprit Bumrah, he is another unsung hero. We talk a lot about Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni… but Jasprit Bumrah has been handling the expectations very well Look at how he came back from the injury and he let the ball do the talking when he came back,” Sidhu explained.

“So he is the natural choice for vice-captain. You can make Jasprit Bumrah the Test captain. It’s too early to say. There are a lot of things when you decide the captain. It’s It’s about the team, it’s about the team. But Bumrah captained England and he deserved it,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Hardik’s MI will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2024 on Thursday.