The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced four teams for the Duleep Trophy 2024 on Wednesday, August 14. Apart from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, all senior cricketers including Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav will take part in the tournament. However, none of these senior cricketers have been named as captains.

Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer have been handed the captaincy for the Duleep Trophy 2024. Former cricketer Aakash Chopra was particularly surprised by Pant not being named captain of any team. Pant will play under the captaincy of Abhimanyu Easwaran in this tournament, which is fine according to Chopra, but given Pant’s impact in red-ball cricket, he expects the 26-year-old to be in the race to become India’s captain in the coming days.

Aakash Chopra made a big statement on Rishabh Pant becoming the captain

In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “Rishabh Pant is not the captain. He has been selected in Abhimanyu Easwaran’s team. He is playing under the captaincy of Abhimanyu Easwaran, which is absolutely fine. However, is Rishabh Pant not a candidate for Test captaincy as well? I am a little surprised.”

The former cricketer further said, “I personally do not agree with this because you have seen the best form of Rishabh Pant as a Test cricketer. He is the only wicketkeeper in the history of Indian cricket to have scored centuries in South Africa, England and Australia in Tests. He said, “Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and even Abhimanyu Easwaran are captains, but Pant is not the captain and in my opinion this is a big deal.”

Let us tell you that Pant will play his first red-ball match after suffering multiple injuries following a car accident in December 2022. He is in the scheme of things for the upcoming Bangladesh Tests and the Duleep Trophy will be the perfect opportunity for him to prove his potential.