How Hardik Pandya fell out of favour for Team India T20 captaincy

Hardik Pandya is undoubtedly the best pace all-rounder for India in the current scenario. He was leading the race to lead India in the shortest format of the game after veteran T20 batsman Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20Is. However, in an unexpected turn of event, BCCI preferred aggressive batter Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain for the Sri Lanka tour. Now, fans and experts are intrigued by the question about the reason behind this harsh treatment towards Pandya?

As per sources close to BCCI, it was the fitness issue of Pandya for which the selectors and the board did not feel confident picking him as the captain. Hardik also had a disastrous outing as a leader and a player in IPL 2024. Pandya’s leadership skills didn’t inspire confidence in Mumbai Indians camp. He could never win the trust of the dressing room at Mumbai Indians and many felt he couldn’t be trusted to rally the national team together.

As per some experts, Pandya asking for a break from the Sri Lanka ODIs due to personal issues also played a factor and proved Gambhir’s doubts right.

As per reports published in some section of media, the BCCI also received feedback from the players against Pandya. BCCI preferred Surya over Hardik and were more comfortable in his leadership. It is said that the feedback received by the board was that players trusted Surya more than Pandya and were more comfortable working under him.

Moreover, Surya’s calm approach and communication skills during last year’s home series against Australia and in the South Africa tour impressed the Indian players. Many in the team also believe that his captaincy style was similar to Rohit, who emphasised one-to-one communication.