With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy coming to an end on Monday, the entire focus will now shift towards the ODI series set to be played between India and Australia. The three-match series will be the Men in Blue's last international assignment before IPL 2023. While India captain Rohit Sharma lifted the trophy after India won the Border-Gavaskar Series 2-1, he won't be available for the first ODI against Australia who will miss the series opener owing to family commitments.
In his absence, it will be Hardik Pandya who will lead the side in the first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Even though it is still early days for Pandya the captain, he has received the backing of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar heaped praises on the India all-rounder and even went on to pick him as the next India captain especially if he manages to lead India to a victory in the first ODI.
"What you see with Hardik Pandya as a captain is a sense of comfort with the rest of the team. Maybe, it's the way he handles the players, puts his arm around the players… He just seems to give the players a sense of comfort. That’s so important to give a player a sense of comfort so that he can go and play his natural game. I think he encourages them, which is a wonderful sign,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports' Game Plan.
“Of course, the fact that he can be an impact player as well as a game changer in the middle order. Even for the Gujarat team, he was promoting himself up the order knowing that this is the time when the team needed some momentum and push, and he would do that. So, someone who is prepared to take on responsibility, lead from the front, and who will not ask the players to do something that he wants to do himself, is highly crucial," he added.
"So, when the players know that he's just not putting us over there because he doesn't want to be there, that he's gone through the fire and he wants us to go through the fire. So, that’s the key as far as Hardik Pandya is concerned. He has been an impressive captain. I have been very impressed with his captaincy at the T20 level for the Gujarat Titans and for India when he is captaining the T20 side. I do believe that if he wins the first game in Mumbai, then you can almost stamp him as the India captain once the World Cup is over in 2023," he further said.
The three-match ODI series between India and Australia begins on March 17 with the first match set to bowled at 01:30 pm (IST).