Hardik Pandya, who was the vice-captain in the recently-concluded home T20I series against South Africa, has slowly made his way into the leadership group of the Indian side.
The all-rounder, however, is not bothered about that, as he instead wants to focus on the job at hand and lead India to victory against Ireland in the 2 T20Is.
Hardik Pandya Thinks It’s A Big Thing To Lead India
Hardik Pandya, who won IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans on the first attempt, is set to lead India for the first time in the two-match T20I series in Ireland starting on June 26.
“I am not here to show anything to anybody. I have got an opportunity to lead India, which itself is a big thing for me. I don’t play this sport to show anything to anybody. I am good enough.” Hardik Pandya said in a virtual press conference on Saturday when he was asked whether he would want to show the team management that he can be a captaincy option in the future.
“I will see in the future, otherwise more than anything I am just focussing on what I can bring in this series,” he added.
India is missing regulars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja who all are currently in England preparing for the Birmingham Test starting in July 1. These two matches against Ireland therefore might be the last opportunity to try out youngsters ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
Hardik Pandya Wants To Field Best Possible XI And Praised India’s Bench Strength
Hardik Pandya said India would field their best XI but they would definitely want to try out new options as well.
“We want to give the opportunity to people but at the same time, we want to play with the best XI as well. But there will be situations, where we will be giving caps to people. It’s about making sure that when we go into the park, we have the best XI playing. So, that will be the focus,” he added.
India is fielding its reserve players in the series against Ireland and Hardik Pandya said the bench strength India possesses now is a good sign for the game in the country.
“If such a situation arises that we have to send two teams, we are very lucky that we have the bench strength where we can allow the players to go and express and a lot of people will get opportunities. There are so much talent in India that people don’t get opportunities. Playing for India is always a dream and for them to achieve that dream will be really fantastic,” he said.
“The way talent has come up and the character the players have shown and the way we played, it indicates India’s bench strength. There are plenty of options right now in the Indian team. Four people are still fighting for places in the team. They are knocking on the doors, so it can be better than that.”
With Hardik Pandya hinting at a couple of debuts for India, it will be interesting to see if the likes of Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, and Rahul Tripathi get an opportunity to play.
Notably, the likes of Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh were warming the benches as India persisted with an unchanged XI in the 5-match series against South Africa. Rahul Tripathi, who was impressive in the IPL for SunRisers Hyderabad, was not picked for the home series but he made it to the Ireland tour after receiving his maiden India call-up.