There are some 'retirement' benefits for Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav after veterans Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja called time on their respective T20I careers. Barely an hour after setting up India's historic win over South Africa in the ICC T20 World Cup final, run-machine Kohli confirmed his retirement from the shortest format on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after guiding India to T20 World Cup glory, Indian skipper Rohit joined Kohli by announcing his retirement from the shortest format. A day after India were crowned champions of the world, veteran all-rounder Jadeja bowed out of T20Is. With India embracing the end of an era, the think tank is expected to groom leadership candidates in their upcoming white-ball assignments.

The two-time champions will also appoint a full-time captain of the Indian side in the shortest format. Since 2022, India have been led by Pant, Hardik, KL Rahul, Bumrah, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Suryakumar in the absence of regular captain Rohit. With Rohit calling time on his incredible T20I career, it will be interesting to see who will get BCCI's final nod to become the regular captain of the Asian giants.

According to HT's poll, white-ball maverick Hardik has emerged as a frontrunner to become the full-time T20I captain. The T20 World Cup 2024 hero amassed 50% of the votes to become an outright favourite for the captaincy throne. Hardik was followed by pace ace Bumrah, who was named the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup. Former world no.1 batter Suryakumar finished third while stand-in skipper for the Zimbabwe series, Shubman Gill, bagged the fourth spot.

VVS Laxman joins Gill and Co. for Zimbabwe tour

The T20 World Cup 2024 was also the final assignment of outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that India will have a new head coach from the white-ball series in Sri Lanka this month. Former opener Gautam Gambhir is tipped to replace Dravid as India's new head coach. Before the Sri Lanka series, India are set to meet Zimbabwe for five T20Is. National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman is travelling with the Indian team as their manager for the Zimbabwe series.

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