3 captaincy choices for India instead of Shikhar Dhawan for the Asian Games

Cricket will mark its return to this year's Asian Games, which is scheduled between September 23 and October 8 in China. The sport has featured in the quadrennial multi-sports event only twice before - in 2010 and 2014. However, India didn't field a side in either due to international commitments.

This time, reports suggest India will send a second-string side (the tournament will clash with the 2023 ODI World Cup so no first-team player will be available) with Shikhar Dhawan as the captain. That might not be the wisest decision.

The left-handed batter was heavily criticized for his mostly reactive captaincy for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2023 and the franchise finished seventh. Moreover, It's a T20 tournament but Dhawan hasn't played a T20I since July 2021. He had a decent IPL with the bat but other, younger openers performed much better.

Giving Dhawan the armband at the age of 37 will not only mean depriving an opening batter of a chance to play for India but also mean missing a golden opportunity to see the leadership skills of a possible future captain.

Here are three names who should be in India's reckoning to lead in the Asian Games:

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#3 Krunal Pandya

It's never easy to take captaincy of an IPL team in the middle of a season. However, when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul injured his thigh in the team's ninth game of IPL 2023, Krunal Pandya took them to the playoffs.

Under him, LSG won three of their remaining four full games in the league stage (the fifth was washed out) before losing in the Eliminator. He received quite a few plaudits from pundits for his body language and leadership on the field.

"Whatever I have seen of Krunal Pandya, he is a terrific reader of the game," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports at that time. "Before he was the captain, he used to play for Mumbai Indians, even there his reading of the game, of the situation is great. He bowls a different sort of line depending on the batters' strength so that is all about being aware and also about the fact that he reads the opponents well, he reads his own game well."

He's likely to be one of the all-rounders in the Asian Games squad and might be the player with the most international experience after Dhawan.

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#2 Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana had an excellent season for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2023. He had to fill the big shoes of Shreyas Iyer, the franchise's statement signing the previous year who got injured ahead of the season.

Rana's rotation of bowlers, team selection, and field changes was neat for most of the season for not the best-balanced squad of the year. Moreover, his contribution with the bat - 413 runs at an average of 31.77 - made sure KKR didn't have drastic implications of Iyer's absence in the middle-order and reached 12 points to finish seventh.

Rana has also led Delhi in 12 T20Is in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, winning eight and losing four. His batting form alone should be good enough to get him a comeback to the second-string side (he played three internationals in 2021) and he has so far shown good signs to excel as a leader at the Asian Games.

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#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad

Considered one of the possible long-term captaincy replacements for MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ruturaj Gaikwad could be a solid option to captain India in the Asian Games.

The right-handed batter recently got a call-up to India's squads for the Test and ODI series against West Indies in July-August and has already played nine T20Is for India. With Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan available as openers for the ODI World Cup, he's likely to be in the squad for the Asian Games.

Gaikwad has recently gained some captaincy experience too, having led Maharashtra to the final of the 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT). He also regularly leads Pune in the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL).

Captaincy seemingly brings the best out of him as a batter as he scored 660 runs at an average of 220 in the VHT and hit a 27-ball 64 against Kolhapur Tuskers in the first match of the 2023 MPL.