Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes that Hardik Pandya should have been India’s new T20I captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20Is. Recently, Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India’s new T20I captain even though he was behind in the race for the position.

Hardik Pandya was India’s vice-captain at the 2024 T20 World Cup, where Rohit Sharma led the team to win the title. Rohit announced his retirement after the final and Hardik was expected to take over the role of vice-captain of the team.

But, in a major surprise, the selectors and new head coach Gautam Gambhir preferred Suryakumar Yadav as India’s new captain in the T20Is. The selectors reportedly had issues with the constant concerns over Hardik’s fitness, which kept him out of several important games for India in the past. The selectors wanted to manage Hardik’s workload, which prompted them to go for a safer option in Suryakumar Yadav.

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Sanjay Bangar criticises BCCI for treatment of Hardik Pandya

While speaking on Star Sports’ ‘Follow the Blues’ show, Sanjay Bangar opened up about the shocking decision of picking Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as India’s next T20I captain.

Bangar felt that though Suryakumar Yadav has enough experience in domestic cricket to lead the Indian team, there has been injustice done to Hardik Pandya, who was previously India’s vice-captain.

“It’s not that Suryakumar Yadav has played less domestic cricket before playing international cricket. He is very experienced, I think he has led Mumbai in domestic cricket as well and he knows how to get the best out of the players,” Bangar said.

“There is nothing wrong with Suryakumar being the captain. I fully believe he will do a good job, but I still feel a little injustice has been done to Hardik,” the former Indian player admitted.

Bangar expressed surprise at the decision and felt that Hardik could have captained India last year had he not been injured. He also expressed concern over the selectors’ sudden change of heart.

“I am a bit surprised as far as Hardik is not the captain of the T20 team is concerned because even before the previous T20 World Cup it seemed that if Rohit had not become the captain and Hardik had not gotten injured at that time, Hardik would have only become the captain,” he reasoned in the same discussion,” Bangar explained.

“The Indian team had started to move in that direction. The selectors had also found that path. This sudden change is a bit worrying to me. We have read that the chairman of the selection committee and the coach have spoken to Hardik Pandya,” he added.

“Hardik will feel deeply hurt,” said Sanjay Bangar.

Bangar also added that Hardik Pandya would feel hurt at missing out on the opportunity to lead his country despite being so close.

“As a player, you always understand what the selectors are trying to do, what the new coach is trying to do, but deep down, I am quite sure Hardik will be deeply hurt that he is not considered for the T20 captaincy,” he said.

Hardik Pandya has led India in 16 T20Is so far and India has won 10 of them. On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav has led India in seven T20Is so far, having won five of them. Suryakumar Yadav’s first task will be the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka which will begin on July 27.