Pandya, at one point, was touted as the next captain of the India T20I team
The Indian management recently named the squad for the five-match T20I series against England. While there were a few interesting decisions taken, the one that came as most shocking was naming Axar Patel as deputy instead of Hardik Pandya.
Notably, Hardik had served as Rohit’s deputy during the title-winning T20 World Cup 2024 campaign last year and was touted to be the next skipper in the shortest format before the Indian board named Suryakumar Yadav.
However, this recent decision to ignore the seaming all-rounder for a leadership role against the Three Lions has come across as baffling.
Echoing on the same lines, former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik also expressed his surprise at the move.
Speaking on the Hey CB with DK show, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter said,
“I really don’t know. I don’t know why he (Hardik) was stripped of his vice-captaincy. I don’t see any reason to. They have done well. They have won in the bilaterals that he was the vice-captain. Not a clue.”
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Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy reins in T20Is with Rohit Sharma sitting out of the shortest format following the T20 World Cup in 2022 till the Afghanistan series last year.
The 31-year-old marshalled his troops rather impeccably, winning 10 out of the 16 T20Is played with just five losses and one tie. In fact, the Men in Blue won three out of the four bilateral T20I series that they played under Pandya.
Since being replaced as captain, Pandya has continued delivering results and is an integral part of India’s ongoing record run in T20Is where they have managed to win 92.3% of the matches they played last year.
The IND vs ENG T20I series is slated to start from January 22 in Eden Gardens.
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