India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been making headlines for months. Since his arrival at Mumbai Indians, as the captain of the franchise, Hardik has found it hard to remain away from headlines. The Baroda-born cricketer became a big talking point among fans and former cricketers again after being snubbed for the role of Team India’s captain in T20Is, with head coach Gautam Gambhir and selectors preferring Suryakumar Yadav. Though Surya has also done well as a leader in a handful of games that he has led in, there are some who feel it was ‘injustice’ to deny Hardik the role.
Former India batter Sanjay Bangar admits that Surya has valuable experience as a leader but ‘injustice has been meted out’ to Hardik, considering he was the front-runner to take the T20I captaincy role after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Bangar also feels that Hardik would be ‘deeply hurt’ seeing Surya being crowned the T20I skipper.
"I am a bit surprised as far as Hardik not being the captain of the T20 team is concerned because even before the previous T20 World Cup it seemed like if Rohit hadn't become the captain and Hardik hadn't gotten injured at that time, Hardik only would have become the captain," Bangar said on Star Sports.
"The Indian team had started going in that direction. The selectors had also found that path. I find this sudden U-turn slightly troubling. We have certainly read that the chairman of the selection committee and the coach have spoken to Hardik Pandya," he added.
"It's not that Suryakumar Yadav has played less domestic cricket before playing international cricket. So he has a lot of experience, I think he has led Mumbai in domestic cricket as well and knows how to extract the best from the players," he asserted.
"So there is nothing wrong in Suryakumar being made the captain. I fully believe that he will do a good job but I still feel a little injustice has been meted out to Hardik," the former India batting coach added.
Even before the T20 World Cup 2024 began, it was being reported that Hardik could be the one leading the team in the global event, with Rohit expected to step down.
Hence, seeing Suryakumar being named the captain in the shortest format, coupled with Hardik not even getting the role of his deputy, was baffling for many.
"I am a bit surprised as far as Hardik not being the captain of the T20 team is concerned because even before the previous T20 World Cup it seemed like if Rohit hadn't become the captain and Hardik hadn't gotten injured at that time, Hardik only would have become the captain," he asserted.
"The Indian team had started going in that direction. The selectors had also found that path. I find this sudden U-turn slightly troubling. We have certainly read that the chairman of the selection committee and the coach have spoken to Hardik Pandya," Bangar further said.