The Indian management recently named the team for the five-match T20I series against England. While some interesting decisions were made, the one that was most impactful was appointing Axar Patel as MP instead of Hardik Pandya.
Notably, Hardik had served as Rohit’s backup during the 2024 T20 World Cup title-winning campaign last year and was touted as the next skipper in the shortest format against Indian board named Suryakumar Yadav.
However, this recent decision to ignore the all-rounder for a leadership role against the Three Lions has proven baffling.
In the same vein, former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik also expressed his surprise over the move.
Speaking on the show Hey CB with DK, the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman said:
“I really don’t know. I don’t know why he (Hardik) was stripped of his vice-captainship. I don’t see any reason to do it. They have done it well. They have won in the bilaterals that he was the vice-captain. “No idea.”
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India has maintained a good winning streak under the leadership of Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya took the captaincy reins in the T20Is and Rohit Sharma was out of the shorter format after the T20 World Cup in 2022 until the Afghanistan series last year.
The 31-year-old led his troops quite flawlessly, winning 10 of the 16 T20Is played with just five losses and one draw. In fact, the Men in Blue won three of the four bilateral T20I series they played under Pandya.
Since being replaced as captain, Pandya has continued to deliver results and is an integral part of India’s current record-breaking run in T20Is, where he managed to win 92.3% of the matches he played last year.
The IND vs ENG T20I series is scheduled to begin on January 22 at Eden Gardens.
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