India all-rounder Hardik Pandya saw his world turn upside down quickly as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka. Expected to be named the team’s new T20I captain, after the retirement of Rohit Sharma, but the new management structure, especially with Gautam Gambhir coming in as the head coach, had a different perspective towards things. Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar handed the T20I leadership bandwagon in the hands of Suryakumar Yadav, while vice-captaincy went to Shubman Gill.
A number of reports have come in since the news broke, with some suggesting that head coach Gambhir wanted Suryakumar to take the role, as he was unconvinced by Hardik's consistency and fitness. A report in PTI has now also claimed that while Gambhir's arrival did play a role, Chief selector Agarkar wasn't convinced by Hardik's tactical awareness, required for a successful captaincy stint, either.
Gambhir's entry as India's head coach obviously put a spanner in Pandya's national captaincy prospects but even the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar wasn't completely convinced that he is tactically as sound as one expects an international skipper to be, a PTI report stated.
He needs a bit of handholding and Ashish Nehra did that at GT. Mark Boucher wasn’t that man at MI and as per a general feedback, the younger lot in the Indian dressing room have a chance of responding way better to Surya than to Pandya.
What is the road ahead for Pandya right now? A terrific performance first up in the Sri Lanka T20Is to drive home a point. Also he can't just wait for India games as he will have to play domestic cricket to improve his below-par international appearance percentage of 50 percent across two white ball formats in last 19 months (69 games (46 out of 79 T20Is and 23 ODIs out of 59 ODIs since Jan 22).
Indian cricket is always full of twists and turns and if Pandya wants to go to the Champions Trophy next year, he will have to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Baroda in December.
Pandya's leadership ambitions have faced a massive roadblock but in cricket, it ain't over till the last ball is bowled.
With PTI Inputs