Hardik Pandya gets former cricketer’s backing for T20I captaincy

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has backed star all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the captaincy of India’s T20I team.

Expressing surprise at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to appoint Suryakumar Yadav as the captain, the former batter said that Pandya should have been made captain as he had more experience of the job, an Indian media outlet reported.

“I think that Hardik Pandya should have remained the captain. He led the Gujarat Titans for two years, made it to the finals on both occasions, and won a title. Hardik was already leading the T20I team, he was the vice-captain in the 2024 T20 World Cup,” Kaif added.

However, the former cricketer said that the team’s planning might have changed since the arrival of Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of India.

“Surya is also doing quite well, he is not doing a bad job as such. He has also been playing for quite a while now and doing well for the team. I expect him to lead the team well, but I thought Hardik will be the captain,” Mohammad Kaif added.

While the former batter supported Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of the T20I team, he said that there was no reason to ignore Pandya for the position.

“I don’t think that Hardik Pandya has done anything wrong to be not considered as captain,” Kaif concluded.

It is pertinent to mention that the all-rounder has led India to 11 wins in 16 T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav, having captained in 7 T20Is, has guided India to victory in five of those matches.

A day earlier, BCCI announced appointing Yadav as the captain of the T20I team ahead of the three-match T20I series before the ODIs against Sri Lanka.

The decision came following the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the shorter format after India lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy last month.