The Chairman of Team India’s selector’s committee, Ajit Agarkar, has revealed the reason behind Hardik Pandya being removed as the vice-captain of the Indian T20I side, citing the all-rounder’s availability as a reason.
Now that Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and captain Rohit Sharma have retired from T20Is, Hardik is one of the seniormost players in the shortest format for the Men in Blue. Despite that, not only has he not been promoted to being the captain of the side, but he has also been demoted, so now he is not even the team’s vice-captain.
Pandya was the vice-captain of the team that went into the 2024 T20 World Cup and won the whole thing without even losing a match.
Check Out: Reason Behind Hardik Pandya Not Being Vice Captain
The performances of the star all-rounder, whose form in the IPL earlier in the year was poor, stood up to the occasion and was one of the team’s best players in the competition. He was even named in the T20 World Cup Team of the Tournament and was one of six Indians in that line-up.
Despite his massive role in India winning their first World Cup in 13 years as the vice-captain of the team, Hardik Pandya has not been named as the second-in-command of the T20I team after Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the head coach of the Indian National Cricket Team.
It is Suryakumar Yadav who has instead been named the team captain. Whereas Shubman Gill, who wasn’t even in the squad for the T20 World Cup earlier this year, has been named vice-captain.
Reason Behind Hardik Pandya Not Being Vice Captain
Agarkar and Gambhir held a press conference today, where the two revealed a lot of information about the team and its future. In the press event, the selection committee head revealed the reason behind Pandya being snubbed for leadership roles on the T20I side, saying,
“He (Hardik) is still a very important player for us, and we want him to be the player that he can be because those sorts of skill sets are very difficult to find. Fitness has been a challenge for him over the last few years, and then it becomes a bit more difficult for a coach or even us, the selectors.”
Ajit Agarkar further went on to highlight that there is now some time before the next T20 World Cup, so the team-building for that tournament will not be rushed.
“Now we have got a bit more time until the next T20 World Cup, where we can look at a few things. It is not rushed at the moment. He is an important player for us, and performances are more important. That was the thought behind it. Fitness is a clear challenge, and we want someone who is likely to be available more often than not,” he said.
Despite being ousted from the vice-captain position, Hardik Pandya has been named in the squad for the upcoming three-match T20I India vs Sri Lanka series, the first match of which will be played on July 27 in the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka, at 7:00 PM.
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