Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the Men in Blue needs to hire retired players as coaches for the T20I setup following their humbling 10-wicket win. Speaking to India Today after the all-important match, Harbhajan said that someone like Ashish Nehra could be effective alongside Hardik Pandya as the captain.
"In the T20Is, get a coach who has retired from cricket recently, someone like Ashish Nehra and for captaincy, Hardik Pandya is my choice," Harbhajan said in the exclusive interview.
His ideology was mirrored by legendary skipper Sunil Gavaskar, as both of them believe that bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya should take over this Indian side despite KL Rahul being the vice-captain. Pandya played an exceptional innings but in vain as India lost in the semifinal against England. He helped the side post a competitive total despite their slow start.
Pandya, who scored 63 off 33 balls, would have hoped that India put on a good fight in the second innings of the match. However, it was not to be, as the bowlers were taken apart by England skipper Jos Buttler and his opening partner Alex Hales, who put on a massive 170-run stand, the biggest in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Earlier, Gavaskar said that he expects many changes to India's future line-up and added that Hardik Pandya should take over as skipper after the World Cup.
"Having won the Indian Premier League on his first assignment as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain. Hardik Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future and there will be some retirements, you never know. Players will be giving it a lot of thought. There are several players in their mid-30s who will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team," Gavaskar said.
