Ever since Virat Kohli stood down, captaincy in India cricket has been like a round of musical chairs. From KL Rahul to Hardik Pandya, as many as seven players have captained the Indian team. Barring Rahul and Hardik, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan have all had a go at captaincy. Then there is Rohit Sharma, obviously. This captaincy rat-race has, to an extent, has taken away the sheen of being the captain of the Indian cricket team. And presently, though Hardik Pandya has not been officially appointed as permanent T20I captain, it appears that split captaincy has finally graced Indian cricket – Rohit is likely to put more focus on ODIs and Tests from now.
Amid all this, one veteran India cricketer who has never gotten the chance to captain the Indian cricket team is R Ashwin. Having been around for over a decade, captaincy has been a term that has not been associated with Ashwin much. While Ashwin has in fact captained in the IPL leading Punjab Kings in 2018, his name has been kept significantly away from Team India’s captaincy. Maybe because he is not an automatic starter for India in overseas, or maybe not… but the headline ‘Ashwin as India’s Test captain’ certainly rings a bell.
Ashwin himself says that while he is open to the opportunity, not having captained India isn’t something he is losing sleep over. “Once I hang up my boots, I think I’ll have an answer for that. But until then my dreams will be open, I’ll be looking forward to opportunities,” Ashwin told The New Indian Express in an interview.
Hardik is being groomed as India’s next white-ball captain. He is already leading India in T20Is and with wins in Ireland, New Zealand, now against Sri Lanka and of course, the IPL title in his debut season with the Gujarat Titans last year, Hardik is shaping up to be Rohit’s successor in ODIs as well. Rating his captaincy, Ashwin is convinced of the leadership skills that Pandya possesses and feels Hardik brings a very crucial trait to the table.
“He is a very smart cricketer. The thing I like about him is he is very chill. Because he’s chill and relaxed, I think it will keep the team atmosphere pretty relaxed and players will perform well as a unit,” pointed out Ashwin.
Ashwin captained PBKS in 2018 and 2019 but his record wasn’t impressive by any stretch of the imagination. Under Ashwin, PBKS won 16 matches out 28 with a win percentage of 43. In fact, it was in 2018 that Ashwin ran Jos Buttler out at the non-striker’s end which led to an uproar in world cricket.