Former batsman Mohammad Kaif has extended his support to Hardik Pandya after the all-rounder was ruled out of the Team India captaincy in the T20Is.
Following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20Is last month following the T20 World Cup victory, Hardik Pandya was expected to take charge of the team. The star all-rounder was the vice-captain of the team during the T20 World Cup and his impressive all-round performances only strengthened his candidacy to be India’s new T20I captain.
He played with both bat and ball throughout the competition, in which India claimed the T20 World Cup after a gap of 17 years. With the bat, he scored 144 runs, at a strike rate of over 150 and an average of 48. With the ball, he took 11 wickets, including the crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller in the World Cup final.
However, the selectors and the team management decided not to give him the permanent captaincy and handed over the responsibility to Suryakumar Yadav. According to media reports, one of the main reasons for Hardik Pandya not being named as captain was his poor injury record.
Mohammad Kaif on Hardik Pandya’s decision not to take captaincy:
The BCCI’s decision not to give Hardik Pandya the T20I captaincy came as a surprise to many, including Mohammad Kaif. The former India batsman said that while Suryakumar Yadav is a good choice for the captaincy, the selectors and team management should have backed Hardik Pandya given his previous experience in leading T20 teams.
“Hardik has been captain of the Gujarat Titans for two years and in his first year they reached the final… Hardik has experience of captaining the T20I team. He was also vice-captain in the T20 World Cup. Now that a new coach has come in, there will be a new plan.
“Surya is also a good player, he has been playing for years. He is the number one player in T20, I hope he handles the responsibility of captain well. But I think they should have backed Hardik…” Kaif told IANS exclusively.
“Gambhir is an experienced captain and coach… He knows cricket very well. I think ‘Hardik has done nothing wrong to not get the captaincy’,” he added.
Pandya has extensive experience as a team leader. He has led Team India in both white-ball formats in the past and has also captained IPL teams. In 2022, he led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL trophy before taking them to the final in 2023. In this year’s IPL, he led the Mumbai Indians, though he could not do well as captain. He has also led India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is so far.
“He has experience, he has been captain in the IPL and to lead a new team (Gujarat Titans) to the trophy, with new and young faces, is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from scratch in the IPL… I think he had the right to be captain. So let’s wait and see,” he said.
