Was Hardik Pandya Stripped of His Captaincy Due to Gautam Gambhir’s Demand? Here’s the Big Revelation

Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav are currently among the most talked about cricketers in India. While Pandya has been demoted, Yadav has been promoted to the role of Indian T20I captain. Pandya, despite being in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka tour, has not been named as the vice-captain.

Several reports suggest that Suryakumar Yadav is being seen as a long-term captaincy prospect in the shortest format. The decision came as a surprise to Pandya, who was the vice-captain during India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign.

The new coach of the Indian cricket team, Gautam Gambhir, has picked Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain. According to a report, it was not a direct decision. A BCCI official said, “Although Gambhir did not directly pitch for Surya in the call, he made it clear that he wanted to work with a captain whose workload would not be a stumbling block. Agarkar was clear with his views.”

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir’s favourite Harshit Rana gets a place in the ODI squad, after an impressive performance in IPL 2024! Here’s what he said about his selection?

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has come out in support of Hardik Pandya as the T20I captain. Kaif said, “I think Hardik Pandya should have been the captain for the Sri Lanka tour. Hardik was the captain of Gujarat Titans for two years and led them to the final in their first year. He has experience as a captain of the T20I team and was also the vice-captain in the T20 World Cup. Now, with a new coach, there will be new plans. Surya is a good player and the number one T20 player. I hope he will handle the responsibility of captaincy well. But I think they should have backed Hardik.”

Kaif added: “Gambhir is an experienced captain and coach who understands cricket very well. I don’t think Hardik has done anything wrong to be denied the captaincy. He has led a new team (Gujarat Titans) to the IPL trophy from scratch, which is a huge achievement. He deserved the captaincy. So let’s wait and see.”