'Sudden U-turn is troubling': Hardik Pandya's captaincy snub labelled 'injustice' as ex-India coach drops blunt reaction
Ex-IND coach make a point that the decision was not fair for Hardik who was once in contention to lead India in the 2024 T20 WC.
The transition phase has begun in India's T20I team, with Suryakumar Yadav taking over as the new captain. The selectors made a brave call by naming Surya as a skipper over Hardik Pandya, who was Rohit Sharma's deputy in the T20 World Cup 2024, where India emerged victorious. Hardik also lost his vice-captaincy as the BCCI went ahead in a direction as Shubman Gill named the new white-ball deputy with a look at the future. Hardik, captain of an IPL franchise, was touted to take over the captaincy reigns from Rohit, but the BCCI didn't state any reason for Surya's appointment over him as the new T20I skipper.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar asserted that Suryakumar has previously done the captaincy duties for Mumbai in the domestic circuit and said he knows how to get the best from the players. Surya, who previously captained Mumbai in domestic cricket, last year led India to a 4-1 T20 series win over Australia and followed it up with a 1-1 result in South Africa.
"It's not that Suryakumar Yadav has played less domestic cricket before playing international cricket. So he has a lot of experience, I think he has led Mumbai in domestic cricket as well and knows how to extract the best from the players," Bangar said on Star Sports.
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However, Bangar did make a point that the decision was not fair for Hardik, who was once in contention to lead India in the 2024 T20 WC when Rohit didn't play the shortest format for over a year.
"So there is nothing wrong in Suryakumar being made the captain. I fully believe that he will do a good job but I still feel a little injustice has been meted out to Hardik," the former India batting coach added.
"I am a bit surprised as far as Hardik not being the captain of the T20 team is concerned because even before the previous T20 World Cup it seemed like if Rohit hadn't become the captain and Hardik hadn't gotten injured at that time, Hardik only would have become the captain," he reasoned in the same discussion.
Bangar further suggested that the big U-turn in leadership skills might create trouble for the Indian team.
"The Indian team had started going in that direction. The selectors had also found that path. I find this sudden U-turn slightly troubling. We have certainly read that the chairman of the selection committee and the coach have spoken to Hardik Pandya," Bangar said.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar will start his tenure as India's permanent skipper with a three-match T20I series in Pallekele, while Shubman will act as vice-captain on the Sri Lanka tour in both ODIs and T20Is.
