'Where Is Rohit Sharma?' Controversy Erupts On Social Media As India vs Pakistan Poster Shows Hardik Pandya As India Captaincy

On Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled the schedule for the 2024 T20 World Cup, set to be co-hosted by the United States of America and the West Indies. The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 1 to 29. India is slated to kick off their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York, followed by a high-profile clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue. The Indian team is also grouped with hosts USA and Canada.

In the wake of this announcement, Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the ICC event, shared a poster focusing on the India-Pakistan encounter. The poster featured the images of Shaheen Afridi, recently named captain of Pakistan, and India's representative, Hardik. This led to speculation and confusion on social media regarding whether the post inadvertently confirmed a leadership change, raising questions about Rohit Sharma being replaced by Hardik as the T20I captain. It's worth noting that Hardik has unofficially led the side in Rohit's absence from the T20 format since the 2022 T20 World Cup. (WATCH: David Warner Gets Babar Azam's Jersey From Pakistan Captain Shan Masood Following Farewell Test)

Here are the reactions:

If Rohit would captain in T20 WC 2024, then What would you say 

Guys, these are just one photoshop away , Rohit be captain and then they change from everywhere like it was never there... Don't fight or say anything to them.

I am surprised why they didn't chose VK   Adarsh Kumar Yadav (@AdarshKY673) January 5, 2024

Stop this hype. Unnecessary. Win a cup not match.  legitGem (@CoolGuy_VJ) January 5, 2024

How come you have shown pic of @hardik as Captain when officially @ImRo45 is still India's T20 Captain.This is not correct,@BCCI.@HashTagCricket @AMP86793444 @CricCrazyJohns  Narayan Mahadevan (@tmnarayan) January 5, 2024

Why Hardik Pandya in the poster ? How do you know that he will be the captain

 Lalatendu Rout (@Littu85) January 5, 2024

It's Hardik once again pic.twitter.com/JzCW6z31Kh   (@Sagar_vkfan) January 5, 2024

We want Rohit Sharma's photo  Sankott (@Iamsankot) January 5, 2024

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee will have some sleepless nights before selecting the squad for T20s against Afghanistan with veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli keen to play the World Cup in June.

Both Rohit and Kohli have not played in the shortest format for India since the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in November 2022. (Virat Kohli's Knock Vs Pakistan To England's Win Vs India; Unforgettable Moments From T20 World Cup 2022 - In Pics)

The two national selectors, Shiv Sunder Das and Salil Ankola are both in South Africa and will be joined by their chairman Agarkar during the course of the second Test at Newlands.

It is expected that Agarkar and Co will speak to head coach Rahul Dravid along with Test and ODI skipper Rohit, star batter Kohli before announcing the squad against Afghanistan.