Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav – those two seem to be the most discussed cricketers currently in India. While Pandya has been demoted, Yadav has been promoted as the Indian T20I captain. Pandya is not even the vice-captain though he is in the T20I team for the Sri Lanka Tour. Meanwhile, several reports have claimed that Suryakumar Yadav may be seen as a long-time prospect for captaincy in the shortest format. For Pandya, who was the vice-captain in India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign, this was unexpected of sorts.
But why did new Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir go with Suryakumar as the T20I captain? A report has claimed that it was not a direct call.
A BCCI official told Hindustan Times, “Although Gambhir did not directly pitch for Surya in the call, he made it amply clear that he would want to work with a captain whose workload does not become a stumbling block. Agarkar was clear with his views.”
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has expressed his support for all-rounder Hardik Pandya to assume the T20I captaincy.
"I think Hardik Pandya 'shayad captain banne chahiye the' (for Sri Lanka tour). Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for two years and in their first year itself, they made it to the final…Hardik has experience captaining the T20I side. He was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. Now, a new coach has arrived, there will be new planning. Surya is also a good player, he has been playing for years. He is a No.1 T20 player, I hope he will shoulder the captain's responsibility well. But I feel they should have backed Hardik," Kaif told IANS.
"Gambhir is an experienced captain and coach…He understands cricket very well. I think 'Hardik ne aisa koi galat kaam nhi kia ki unko captaincy na mile' (Hardik has not done anything wrong that he should not get the captaincy). He has experience, has captained in the IPL and leading a new team (Gujarat Titans) to the trophy, with fresh and young faces, which is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from Ground Zero in the IPL…I think he was entitled to the captaincy. So let's just wait and see."