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Way back on May 3, CricBlogger wrote ~about~ how Rohit Sharma’s efforts to make Surya Kumar Yadav his deputy for the T20 World Cup, instead of Hardik Pandya, highlighted an interesting dynamic within the Indian cricket team. Despite concerns from some in the team management about Hardik’s fitness and form, his established reputation and leadership role with the Mumbai Indians played a significant part in defending his position. The influence of a prominent figure in Indian cricket, coupled with Hardik’s impactful performances helped him to be retained as India’s vice-captain for the T20 World Cup.
However, the undercurrent to give leadership to Surya persisted and resurfaced on Tuesday. Reportedly, Surya raced ahead of Hardik to become the new T20 captain until the next edition, which is supposed to be played in India.
New coach Gautam Gambhir may also get involved in this situation. As a former politician, he could see Hardik’s approach and potential to perform under pressure as a rare quality. Gambhir might be advocating for Hardik’s preservation and focus on playing freely rather than the burdens of captaincy, similar to how MS Dhoni managed Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh during the 2007 and 2011 phases. However, the problem here is that Surya Kumar Yadav isn’t Dhoni.
This situation appears to be a dirty game being played to undermine a player like Hardik, who has also proved his worth as a captain. If Rohit is indeed playing games and is behind the snubbing of Hardik as T20 captain, cricket may suffer significantly. It appears the decision to make Surya the T20 captain seems less about cricket and more about Rohit taking revenge on Hardik for dislodging him as the Mumbai Indians captain.
Someone influential in Indian cricket will have to step in again and make a few phone calls to stabilise this situation. Otherwise, it could set a dangerous precedent, leading to internal politics overshadowing the game’s integrity and potentially harming the team’s performance and unity.
When Virat Kohli wanted to quit T20 captaincy but retain ODI leadership, he was told that the BCCI couldn’t have two white-ball captains. Now, with the unavoidable situation of having two white-ball captains, making Surya the T20 captain indeed suggests that there would be no threat to Rohit’s ODI captaincy, as Surya isn’t a regular in the ODI setup. This situation indicates that Rohit might still see Hardik as a potential threat to his ODI captaincy, given Pandya’s capabilities and leadership experience. It’s possible that Rohit losing the Mumbai Indians captaincy to Hardik may still be affecting his ego. Who knows?
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
Hello dada. I beg to differ! Reports suggest , that teammates perceive sky as the captain well over hardik. Hardik has attitude problems! Look at the way how tilak was thrown under the bus by hardik in mi delhi game! Is that what captain is supposed to do? He isn’t a holy cow! And It too early for you to speculate about surya’s stint as captain. Infact, the best came out of him as a captain. Look at his scores when he was a captain against Aussies and South Africa! Dada, without anything to back your claim, you just can’t blame Rohit. I believe sky will be a good captain.