India vs West Indies: Three captaincy options for India in last two T20Is if Rohit Sharma misses out

Indian white ball team is on a great run at the moment having drawn the T20I series against South Africa at home and winning the away series against Ireland by 2-0. The Men in Blue then defeated England in ODI and T20I series by a 2-1 margin.

The second-string side then played an ODI series against West Indies and whitewashed the Caribbean team. Currently, India is playing a five-match T20I series against West Indies and is ahead by a 2-1 margin. The next two matches of the series are scheduled to be held in Florida, USA.

In the third match, team India suffered a massive blow when Rohit Sharma had to ‘retired hurt’ while batting in the second innings. Although he came back to speak at the post-match presentation, there are doubts over his availability for the next matches.

Although his unavailability is going to be a big miss for India, there are ample options ready to take on the captaincy responsibility. Let’s look at three Indian players who could take over the captaincy baton from Rohit Sharma in the upcoming match.

1. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya (Image source: Twitter)

Hardik Pandya would be the easy choice for the team management. The Gujarat batter came out of injury to lead the Gujarat side to their maiden Indian T20 League trophy in their first season itself.

The all-rounder was handed over the responsibility for Ireland tour and impressed everyone with his captaincy skills. The 28-year-old’s captaincy skills have been a revelation and it is almost certain that he would be asked to lead the team in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant (Image source: Twitter)

Rishabh Pant has led team India on many occasions and is also a permanent captain of the Delhi team in the Indian T20 League. His captaincy skills, however, were under question in the later stages of this year’s Indian T20 League. He faced similar criticism against South Africa when India lost the first two games.

Pant has dropped down the ladder when it comes to captaincy, but his heroics in the third match against England cannot be discarded. He could still be given the responsibility in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Image source: Twitter)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the most experienced player to have captained team India among these group of players. He has also been India's vice-captain on many occasions. This allows the pace bowler to be in contention for the role in case Rohit Sharma is unable to recover from back spasms.