Less than a month ago, Hardik Pandya was on top of the world. He had a stellar T20 World Cup, made a telling contribution in India’s victory in the final and, in the process, became the first Indian to occupy the No. 1 spot for T20I all-rounders. It would be preposterous to say that his world has come crashing down just because he wasn’t chosen as Rohit Sharma’s successor in the Indian T20I team. But losing out on the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav was obviously a disappointment.
Pandya was Rohit’s deputy at the T20 World Cup, and as the latter hung up his T20I boots after the tournament, the all-rounder had every right to aspire for bigger honours. Pandya had led India in the shortest format in the past, and when fit, he is world-class.
The logic that Surya has been appointed India’s new T20I captain with an eye on the future doesn’t hold water. The Mumbai batsman is 33 years of age. Pandya is three years younger. The turmoil in his personal life cannot be a reason either, for Pandya hasn’t allowed that to affect his performance. So why did chief selector Ajit Agarkar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir decide to pick Surya over him? Pandya wasn’t even given the consolation of vice-captaincy, as that role went to Shubman Gill. On the face of it, his demotion was unwarranted.
Former national selector Saba Karim concurred. “Yes, it is harsh if you look at it,” he said, speaking to RevSportz. “But I’m sure that the selectors and the team management have thought about it.”
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Yes, Pandya has a tendency to break down. Over the last two-and-a-half years, he has played 46 of India’s 79 T20Is and 23 of the team’s 59 ODIs. But India hardly play more than 10 T20Is a year and Pandya’s body should be good enough to take the rigours of that. He doesn’t play red-ball cricket.
“More than that, I feel, maybe the team management and the selectors are looking at someone who can take over the legacy of Rohit,” said Karim. “If you look at SKY and his character and personality, and the way he led India in the home (T20I) series against Australia (last November), for me it looks like SKY is Rohit Sharma by default. And the selectors and the team management felt that at this stage, for this young side to be together and to perform on the field, they need someone like SKY who can take the team forward.”
All said and done, where does it leave Pandya? He is not even part of the leadership group. Karim begged to differ. “No, no, I’m sure he would be part of the leadership group,” asserted the former India stumper. “Just because he is not the captain or vice-captain doesn’t mean that he won’t be part of the leadership group. I feel it’s a challenge for him and he needs to absorb this kind of situation. See, Hardik played a stellar role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph, which goes to show that after a poor IPL, he had enough character and personality to come back and do well.”
Pandya is a professional. There’s no chance of him losing motivation. He will continue to perform. But the way things have transpired, he might feel hard done by. “I’m glad that the selectors and the team management spoke to him before they took the decision,” observed Karim. “It shows that the management and selectors were sensitive to the decision they were taking. And in the end, if it is in the betterment of the team, then so be it.”
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