With the announcement of India's white-ball squads for the tour of Sri Lanka around the corner, the T20I captaincy has become a subject of speculation for two reasons. One, Rohit Sharma is no longer available having quit T20Is following the World Cup last month. And two, the toss-up is now between
Hardik Pandya
and
Suryakumar Yadav
following reports of new head coach
Gautam Gambhir
inclined towards Surya's name.
Hardik's recent run as captain has been forgettable. He returned to Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year after spending two successful years as Gujarat Titans' skipper, having won the title in 2022 and finishing runners-up in 2023.
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But upon Hardik's return to MI as captain, replacing Rohit at the helm, the five-time champions won just four of their 14 matches in the 2024 season.
It severely dented Hardik's winning percentage as an IPL captain, as it dropped below 60, while his numbers for the same as India's T20I skipper remain much better at over 65 percent.
On personal note, the allrounder managed to turn his own performance around from sorry in the IPL to brilliant in the T20 World Cup, including a game-changing three-wicket spell in the final against South Africa.
In 14 matches of the 2024 IPL season, Hardik scored only 216 runs in 13 innings at an average of 18.00, while taking 11 wickets. At the T20 World Cup, he rediscovered his all-round touch with 144 runs (in 6 innings) at an average of 48.00 and 11 wickets in 8 matches.
However, one aspect that coach Gambhir might look at is comparing the fitness of Hardik and Surya, considering the former's history of breaking down.
Hardik captaincy record in T20Is
Played 16, won 10, lost 5, tied 1, winning percentage 65.62
Hardik's captaincy record in IPL
Played 45, won 26, lost 19, winning percentage 57.77
Surya's captaincy stint has been exclusively as T20I skipper. In the IPL, he has played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
He led India in the T20I series on the tour of Australia and took the team to a comprehensive 4-1 win in the five-match series.
The opportunity to captain in T20Is came Surya's way after Hardik injured his ankle midway through the ODI World Cup last year and couldn't return to competitive cricket until IPL 2024.
The top-ranked T20I batsman on ICC rankings, Surya has been unstoppable when on song with his 360-degree hitting and can win games on his own, which earns him a lot of respect from his teammates in the shortest format. But that doesn't discount Hardik as one of India's premier match winners in white-ball cricket, especially the shortest format.
Meanwhile, Surya's winning percentage in a short stint as
T20I captain
is above 70.
Surya's captaincy record in T20Is
Played 7, won 5, lost 2, winning percentage 71.42
But will Hardik pip Surya on the back of experience to get India's T20I captaincy back? The jury is out on that until the squad is announced.
(All stats courtesy: Rajesh Kumar)
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