A former Indian cricketer believes that selectors should have supported Hardik Pandya for the captaincy role due to his past experience leading a T20 team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, commencing on July 27, which marks the beginning of Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as the new head coach. The most notable decision was appointing Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20I captain, replacing Hardik Pandya, who appeared to be the obvious choice for leadership after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format last month.
Pandya, who served as vice-captain of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup on June 29 in Barbados, seemed the logical choice for captaincy following Rohit’s departure. However, both Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar believed Suryakumar should be named the new captain with an eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
This decision did not sit well with former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who felt that the management should have supported Hardik for the captaincy role given his leadership experience in the IPL, where he led the Gujarat Titans to consecutive finals, winning one of them. Kaif argued that Hardik’s achievements warranted the captaincy position.
“Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for two years, leading them to the final in their first year… He has experience leading the T20I side and was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. With a new coach, there will be new planning. Surya is a good player, he has been playing for years and is a top T20 player. However, I believe they should have backed Hardik,” Kaif exclusively told IANS.
“Gambhir is an experienced captain and coach who understands cricket very well. I think ‘Hardik hasn’t done anything wrong that he shouldn’t get the captaincy’,” Kaif added.
In addition to his IPL captaincy, which includes a challenging 2024 season with Mumbai Indians, Hardik led India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is.
“He has the experience, having captained in the IPL and led a new team (Gujarat Titans) to a trophy with fresh and young faces, which is a significant achievement. He built the Titans from the ground up in the IPL… I think he deserved the captaincy. Let’s wait and see how things unfold,” he concluded.
