The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee picked Suryakumar Yadav as their new captain for the shortest format of the game, having ignored the premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya, as they keep an eye on the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, to be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India.
The sources have confirmed the reason, given by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and the newly appointed head coach of the Indian team, behind this new progress is the fitness issues of Hardik Pandya, who has had several injuries since being a regular member of the blue brigade.
It was also known that the former T20I captain Rohit Sharma, under whom India went on to win their second T20 World Cup in 2024 in Barbados last month against South Africa, also wanted Sky to take his position in the team.
BCCI chief selector is yet to be convinced on Hardik Pandya’s fitness
Since the point time when Rohit stepped down from the shortest format of the game, it was almost given that the vice-captain of the team- Hardik Pandya would be the new captain, but later when the chief selector and the head coach of the team informed about their decision, there was a change in the squad announcement of the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka.
Many sources have confirmed that the fellow members of the blue brigade have their trust on Suryakumar Yadav, who led the T20I team of India during the home series against Australia and the away series in South Africa last December, for the leadership position ahead of Hardik Pandya.
The latest news report in PTI has indicated that Agarkar himself wasn’t convinced about the all-rounder being tactically as sound as one expects to be the international leader.
The 30-year-old became the captain of the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, where he led his side to their maiden title in the very first season, before following it up with another final appearance. They would have won that final contest too, but a few mistakes meant they became the runners-up in 2023.
Later before the recent IPL, the news broke out of Hardik Pandya shifting his base back to Mumbai Indians (MI), where he became the captain of the franchise replacing Rohit Sharma.
The fans of the five-times champion didn’t positively receive the news, as they kept on getting under the skin of the Gujarat-born. It affected Hardik Pandya’s performance both with the bat and ball, as his side ended up with the wooden spoon in IPL 2024.
The current thought process is that the all-rounder needs a bit of handholding in leading his side. Once he got the support from GT head coach Ashish Nehra, he earned success, and once he wasn’t offered the same by the former South African batter and current Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher, life became tough for Pandya as the captain.
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Besides captaining the IPL sides, Hardik Pandya has also led the Indian team in 16 T20Is during Rohit’s absence, where he had gone on to win 10 affairs, with a winning rate of 60%.
Newly-made T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment will be the upcoming T20I series in Sri Lanka.