‘India will be in serious trouble if…’ – Former Indian opener urges Indian management to look for Hardik Pandya’s replacement

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes Team India will be in trouble if Rahul Dravid’s side fails to find an equivalent replacement for one of their star performers in the run-up to the ODI World Cup 2023.

A new-look Team India began the ODI World Cup season with an impressive win over Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, led by stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya.

Pandya, who has been promoted to Rohit Sharma’s deputy in limited-overs cricket, led the hosts to a thrilling two-run victory over the Islanders in the first T20I of the series. Replacing opener KL Rahul as Team India’s vice-captain, all-rounder Pandya is widely expected to succeed veteran opener Rohit as the Men in Blue’s next captain.

People who are playing all three formats can definitely take a break: Gautam Gambhir

In response to Pandya’s early success, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes India should bring a backup for the all-rounder in the white-ball setup.

“They need to identify a backup for Hardik quickly; if something happens to him, India will be in serious, serious trouble,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

The two-time World Cup winner also stated that Team India’s seasoned campaigners should continue to be interested in playing ODI cricket during the World Cup year. Regarding workload management, Gambhir believes that by taking a break from the shortest format in 2023, players can prioritize ODI cricket.

“This year [the core group should be focusing on] ODIs for sure. If they want to take a break, people who are playing all three formats can definitely take a break from T20 cricket but surely not from the ODI format. They have got to play together – I think the biggest mistake Indian cricket has made in the last probably two World Cups has been that they [the core players], these guys have not played enough cricket [in the lead up to the World Cups] together,” Gambhir added.