Rajkot, 14 Feb

BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday confirmed that Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup being jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

With all-rounder Hardik Pandya still recovering from an ankle injury suffered in October last year, the board feels Rohit must continue as skipper in the format.

"Rohit was captaining (in the past in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward," Shah told the media on the sidelines of the ceremony to rename the SCA Stadium after former board secretary Niranjan Shah.

"If Hardik was injured in the (2023 ODI) World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy?" asked Shah, indicating if the all-rounder gets injured during the course of the 2024 T20 World Cup, who will replace him as captain.

"In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way he (Rohit Sharma) took the team to 212/4, we can't question much about him, right?" he added.

"He (Rohit) has the ability, as I said, we won 10 games in the ODI World Cup. We didn't win the final, but it's part and parcel of the game. Whoever plays better, wins," Shah expressed.

Earlier during the function to rename the SCA Stadium, Shah said, "In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024 (T20 World Cup) in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag)."

Shah made the speech in front of a gathering of several dignitaries including former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal.

The event also featured current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, incumbent head coach Rahul Dravid, Rohit, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and a few members of the Indian team support staff.