'Hardik has to bid them goodbye respectfully': Shoaib Akhtar on India's transition post Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Team India will once again undergo a transitional period following their defeat in the ODI World Cup final to Australia. India head coach Rahul Dravid’s future remains uncertain, while it remains to be seen for how long skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue to be a part of the ODI setup.

With the 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled for June next year, the Men in Blue will turn to youngsters for the shortest format, and while Hardik Pandya has been leading the side in T20Is for the last year, the team management are yet to make an official call on whether the all-rounder will be India’s skipper for the showpiece event.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that should Hardik take over the captaincy mantle permanently, he must show respect towards Rohit and Kohli.

“When Dhoni came, he gave respect to Sachin Tendulkar. When Virat came, he respected Dhoni. When Rohit replaced Virat, he also gave him respect. So, now it’s up to Hardik Pandya how he wants to send these two great players off. It’s up to him now to put his put down. And he has to bid them goodbye respectfully. They deserve this respect,” Shoaib told on Zee News.

“I’m maybe putting pressure on Hardik Pandya through this but he needs to give that respect to Rohit and Kohli. He is in the team because of them. The kind of favours he has got in the team from them should be repaid. And they are legends of Indian cricket, so they should be given due respect before they are let go,” added the ‘Rawalpindi Express’.

Hardik, however, injured his ankle during India’s World Cup game against Bangladesh in October and was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. In Hardik’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav is leading the Men in Blue in the ongoing T20I series against Australia.

Meanwhile, Akhtar felt that India won’t have a better opener than Rohit and added the both Rohit and Kohli had a lot of cricket left in them.

“If you ask do Rohit and Kohli have cricket left in them? Yes, definitely. Do you get a better opener than Rohit in the world right now? No, you don’t,” said the 48-year-old.