On their first meeting, Hardik Pandya hugged Suryakumar Yadav at the airport after Suyra was named India’s new T20I skipper for the trip to Sri Lanka.
Everything is going well between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. Not that there were any questions, but with the past few days’ events, which saw Surya surpass Hardik, the vice-captain of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad, to become the country’s new T20I captain. One cynical eye was searching for something to increase traffic on social media. Hardik ensured that there wasn’t any.
Following the selectors’ decision to outline a plan for India’s Twenty20 International team in the post-Rohit Kohli era, with Suryakumar at the centre, Hardik Pandya and the recently anointed T20I captain got along like brothers in their first meeting.
Before leaving for Colombo on Monday, July 22, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar were seen giving each other a hearty hug at the Mumbai airport in a video that the BCCI posted late on Monday night. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport saw the assembly of the Indian T20 team on Monday afternoon as they prepared to depart for a three-match series that will begin on July 27.
In the IPL, Hardik and Surya are teammates as well. They stand in for the Indians of Mumbai.
Following Rohit Sharma’s announcement of his retirement from the shortest format following his World Cup victory, Hardik was thought to be the front-runner to inherit the T20I leadership. The all-rounder served as India’s unofficial T20I captain from December 2022 to October 2023. Still, things changed after he sustained an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup group stages the previous year.
Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, and new coach Gautam Gambhir desired a captain available for every future Twenty20 international game. Considering his dismal history of injuries, they were not entirely sure that Hardik Pandya was that man.
Why Suryakumar, rather than Hardik Pandya, was appointed T20I captain
“What made Surya the captain? Since he is among the worthy contenders. You receive a lot of input from the dressing room, according to the person we know who has been there for the past year. During the joint press conference, Agarkar stated, “He is still one of the best T20 batters in the world and has a good cricketing brain.”
“Ideally, a captain should be more inclined to participate in every game. We believe he is a worthy choice and look forward to watching him grow in the position over time.” The chairman of selectors stated that they preferred a captain with a fitness track record over Pandya, who is considered prone to ailments.
“But in regard to Hardik Pandya, he’s still a significant player for us, and that’s what we want him to be that player that he can be because those sorts of skill sets are complicated to find what he has,” Agarkar stated.
“Fitness has been a challenge for him over the last few years, and then it becomes a little bit more difficult for him and even as selectors,” he explained.
We have more time before the next T20 World Cup, so we can look at a few things while we try to. Right now, nothing is hurried.”
As I mentioned before, the idea behind it was that we want him to be a vital player for us and that, ideally, his performances would carry more weight. We want someone most likely to be available because the fitness is a clear challenge,” Agarkar stated.
He shot back, saying, “I wasn’t there when KL was superseded; I wasn’t the selector firstly.” about the former vice-captain KL Rahul being passed up.
“Now that we have a little more time before the… There has been a 50-over World Cup since I arrived, and the T20 World Cup pretty immediately after. Not only is fitness an issue, but we also believe Surya possesses the skills to be a competent captain.
Since two years is a long time, it allows us to approach some issues from a different angle. The essential problem is we want guys who are available all the time. In this sense, we also feel we can manage Hardik Pandya a little better,” he said.
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