Kane Williamson reacts to prospect of Hardik being next India T20I skipper

Team India look to make a fresh start after failing to make the T20 World Cup final, let alone have their hands on the trophy. With the next T20 World Cup in 2024 and given Rohit Sharma's age, veterans and experts have touted all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the captaincy role already. Although the selectors are yet to assess India's World Cup campaign in Australia and take a call on the future of Rohit as the leader, they did name Hardik as the captain for the impending New Zealand T20I series. Ahead of the start of the series, from November 18 onwards, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson talked about the prospect of Hardik as a future captain of the Indian side.

Hardik made his impact as a captain in the T20I cricket after he led the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL win earlier this year in what was their debut appearance in the league. His impressive all-round performance saw him earn a call back to the Indian team after a long gap owing to injury and a month later, he was given his very first assignment as captain of the national team in the tour of Ireland.

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With most of the senior players rested for the New Zealand tour after the World Cup, Hardik was picked once again as the captain, a decision that most veterans and cricket experts were happy with and rather felt that India should pick the all-rounder as the future leader in the format.

Speaking in a select media interaction organised by Prime Video ahead series, Williamson spoke about Hardik as a leader and as a prospect of him captaining the side in the near future.

“Hardik obviously is a superstar of the game. I played against him on a number of occasions. He is one of the most sought-after match-winners. And the fact that he is an all-rounder, his bowling going really well and can hit the ball like he does. He is a special cricketer. As for his leadership skill goes, I haven't played with him so I exactly don't know, but he has had a lot of success in IPL. And with the leadership within India, they have got a number of great and experienced players. So their leadership and guidance of that under Rohit Sharma and the likes of Virat Kohli will be very helpful,” he said.

India's Umran Malik

Williamson also talked about Umran Malik getting picked in the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand. The India youngster had a superb IPL season earlier this year, picking 22 wickets in 14 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad, which was led by Williamson. His performance saw Umran earning his first India call-up before he made his debut in the Ireland series, under Hardik's captaincy.

“Umran is a super exciting talent. Spending time with him last year at the IPL and see his raw pace was a real asset to the team. To see him in the international scene now has been an amazing rise for him. And I think when you’ve got that ability to bowl 150 mark as a fast bowler, it’s very exciting," Williamson said. "I think by being in the squad, clearly there is high hopes that he will have an involvement with Indian cricket for a long time. Coming on on these tours where they’ve got the opportunity to play more and more, will certainly only help him on his journey. But yeah, fantastic talent."

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