The development made fans wonders how it would affect the relationship between Surya and Pandya, but a warm hug just before flying to Sri Lanka ensured that all is well between the two.
All seems to be well between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. Not like there were any doubts, but after what transpired in the last few days leading to Suryakumar Yadav being elevated as India’s new T20I skipper, eclipsing Hardik Pandya, who was the vice captain of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team, there was an odd cynical eye looking for something to drive social media traffic. However, Hardik Pandya makes sure there was none.
Amazingly, in the first meeting after the selectors moved to chalk out a roadmap for the Indian T20I camp in the post-Rohit-Kohli era, keeping Suryakumar Yadav at the forefront, Hardik Pandya and the newly appointed T20I skipper SKY were like brothers in arms. Notably, the 30-year-old all-rounder was seen sharing a warm hug with Suryakumar Yadav at the Mumbai airport before they departed for Kandy. The Indian team members were assembled at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Monday afternoon to depart for the three matches of the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, both star cricketers are also teammates in the IPL. They played for the Mumbai Indians.
Also Read: Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Nayar disagree on boundary in training
Mumbai to Pallekele via Colombo ✈️ 🚌#TeamIndia have reached Sri Lanka 🇱🇰#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/ffDYJOV7wm
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 22, 2024
Meanwhile, the Baroda-born all-rounder was perceived as the top contender to take over the T20I reins after Rohit Sharma’s announcement of the shortest format of the game following 2024 T20 World Cup glory. The 30-year-old was the unofficial T20I captain from the T20 World Cup 2022 to ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023, but things changed for the better when he suffered grave injuries against Bangladesh at the MCA in Pune during the World Cup last year.
The newly appointed head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, wanted the captain who would be available for all T20I matches going ahead. This shows that they were not at all confident that this would be Hardik Pandya owing to his poor records and history of injuries.
Also Read: Ashish Nehra reacts to Hardik Pandya leadership snub under Gautam Gambhir
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube
