Surykumar Yadav pipped
Hardik Pandya
to
T20I captaincy
for India's tour of Sri Lanka, but former India batsman Mohammad Kaif believes the allrounder deserved to lead the Indian team in the shortest format.
It is noteworthy that young batsman Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain in T20Is, replacing Hardik, who previously held this position during the successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.
In an interview with IANS, Kaif shared his opinion that the selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, should have backed Hardik, considering his experience in leading the T20I team in the past.
"Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for two years and in their first year itself, they made it to the final... Hardik has experience captaining the T20I side. He was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. Now a new coach has arrived, there will be new planning. Surya is also a good player...He is a No.1 T20 player (batsman). I hope he will shoulder the captain's responsibility well. But I feel they should have backed Hardik," Kaif said.
"Gambhir is an experienced captain and coach...He understands cricket very well. I think 'Hardik ne aisa koi galat kaam nhi kia k unko captaincy na mile' (Hardik has not done anything wrong that he should not get the captaincy)," Kaif further said.
Hardik's captaincy stint in T20Is saw him leading the side in 16 T20Is, before he got injured last year during the ODI World Cup.
He has also led the Gujarat Titans for two Indian Premier League seasons, with Gujarat finishing as winners under Hardik in 2022 and runners-up in 2023, before the allrounder returned to Mumbai Indians this year and replaced Rohit Sharma as the skipper.
"He has experience, has captained in the IPL; and leading a new team (Gujarat Titans) to trophy, with fresh and young faces, is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from zero in the IPL...I think he was entitled to the captaincy," he added.
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