First the elevation of Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I skipper, now the demotion of Hardik Pandya as the team’s vice-captain, a lot has changed in India’s shortest format team since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2024. In the T20I squad the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced for the 5-match series against England, Axar Patel was named Suryakumar’s deputy despite Hardik being in the team. It has also been reported that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant are likely to be groomed as future captains, all but ending the leadership debate around Hardik.
Despite leading the Indian team to some famous wins in white-ball cricket, Hardik’s absence from the future leadership chatter baffles many. One of those wondering what happened to the all-rounder’s case is former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
“What has happened with Hardik Pandya? Nobody is thinking or talking about him. What exactly has happened with him? He will definitely go to the Champions Trophy. He brings that balance,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“He had an exceptional T20 World Cup. He is the captain of Mumbai Indians. He led India in the 6 T20I series and won five out of them. When Rohit wasn’t available, Hardik used to be the captain,” he noted further.
Hardik isn’t being seen as a vice-captain for India’s white-ball teams, with the board now actively working on developing new candidates. The development comes despite the fact that Hardik leads his Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, of which Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are also a part.
“Suddenly, what has happened? He is not even the vice-captain. He is not being talked about. Mumbai Indians had a bad reason but you cannot blame Hardik for that. Even if the performance and his captaincy were bad, it has nothing to do with Indian cricket. The Indian team captaincy is not decided on the basis of franchise captaincy. If this was the case, the matter would have been different. There have been so many captains who led India despite their franchise doing nothing in the IPL,” said Chopra.
“It is beyond my understanding regarding what is happening with Hardik Pandya. There should be some clarity regarding whether he can be considered as captaincy candidate going ahead. It is looking like we are heading towards different captains in all three formats. Hardik is not even the vice-captain and it is a bit surprising,” he added.