Hardik Pandya, who was being considered as the next captain of Team India, now seems to be far out of the race. Suryakumar Yadav is the new captain for India in T20I. Both the new coach and players played a role in this change.
Hardik Pandya has been India’s best pace-bowling all-rounder for the past few years. He is one of Team India’s top stars. Until recently, Hardik was considered the next captain of Team India. However, things changed so rapidly that Hardik is no longer even the vice-captain.
Hardik captained India in 16 T20I and three ODI matches. During these matches played from June 2022 to August 2023, India won 12. After this performance, it seemed like Hardik would remain India’s captain for the T20 World Cup 2024.
But Rohit Sharma returned and immediately became the captain. Hardik was made the vice-captain. He performed excellently, and India became the world champion. After Rohit and Virat retired, it seemed like Hardik would be the next captain of the team. He also had a successful captaincy record with IPL team Gujarat.
However, this did not happen. The selectors and the new head coach together made Suryakumar Yadav the captain for the Sri Lanka tour, while the vice-captain post was given to Shubman Gill. In no time, Hardik disappeared from the scene, even though he was performing excellently.
Despite this, he was sidelined. According to the Hindustan Times, there are at least two major reasons for the changes in Hardik’s situation. The first is his fitness. He got injured during the ODI World Cup.
Due to the injury, he was out for more than four months. It wasn’t the first time Hardik stayed away from cricket for a long time due to an injury. Because of a back problem, he could not bowl for a long time. After returning from the ODI World Cup injury, Hardik bowled in IPL 2024, but Rohit’s return caused him a setback.
Hardik couldn’t captain in the T20 World Cup. Right before that, in IPL 2024, Mumbai’s dressing room didn’t support him. The team appeared divided. This also affected Hardik. A BCCI official told the Hindustan Times,
“He couldn’t win over Mumbai’s dressing room. Many people felt that he couldn’t be trusted to keep the national team united.”
However, even after this, Hardik was considered the second-best till the World Cup. But after Rohit and Dravid left, things changed. The new coach, Gambhir, had a different mindset. He didn’t directly mention anyone, but it was clear that he didn’t want to work with a captain whose workload needed to be managed.
Excluding him from the ODI series of the Sri Lanka tour also harmed Hardik. Amidst all this, BCCI received players’ feedback. Players preferred Suryakumar over Hardik, stating they felt more comfortable with him. Indian Express wrote,
“It was said that according to the feedback received by the board, players trusted Suryakumar more than Hardik. They felt more comfortable with him.”
During last year’s series against Australia and South Africa, Suryakumar was the team captain. Players were very happy with his calm demeanor and communication style. Many also feel that his captaincy style is similar to Rohit’s.
However, making Suryakumar the captain wasn’t an easy decision. Some members of the selection committee and the board felt that Hardik would be the right captain. After that, Coach Gambhir and the selection committee chief’s opinion secured Suryakumar’s position.
