Hardik Pandya was recently snubbed for India T20I captaincy as BCCI selector Ajit Agarkar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir opted for Suryakumar Yadav as Rohit Sharma’s successor. Rohit Sharma retired from T20Is along with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after T20 World Cup 2024 win.
Hardik joined the leadership group following the IPL 2022 and made his T20I captaincy debut against Ireland. As Rohit stayed away from the format in 2023, he appeared to be a lock for the position of T20I captain. Hardik took over as Rohit’s deputy following his comeback to the shortest format.
Not only was Hardik Pandya snubbed for India T20I captaincy, despite being the vice-captain of the side in the T20 World Cup, but the all-rounder was also removed from vice-captaincy in ODIs and T20Is as well. Shubman Gill was then named vice-captain of both formats.
“I am sure Hardik Pandya will come back”- R Sridhar
While Hardik Pandya played under Suryakumar Yadav in the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka, he requested and was granted an absence from the ongoing ODI series. Despite Hardik’s absence from the leadership group, R Sridhar believes he will return.
The former India head coach told the Hindustan Times that a cricketer like him is uncommon to find.
“I am sure Hardik will come back. He has just won you a World Cup, bowling those two crucial overs between 16 and 20. The last over obviously was fabulous from an Indian perspective. If he has got niggles, he will come back like how he has before. But Hardik is somebody rare to find, a cricketer like him is rare to find. We can take good care of him till the time he is playing cricket and making sure he is available for the marquee series and all the big ICC tournaments,” Sridhar said.
Hardik has decided to take a break from international cricket until November. Hardik is set to return for India’s four-T20I tour of South Africa in November. The star all-rounder will return to domestic cricket, playing for Baroda in white-ball cricket. He does not play red-ball cricket.