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Hardik Pandya has served as the captain of the Indian T20 men’s crcket team in 16 T20Is and won ten of them.
Hardik Pandya was crucial to India winning T20 World Cup. (BCCI Photo)
Aakash Chopra has questioned Axar Patel’s appointment as India’s vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against England. Chopra expected Hardik Pandya to be named the deputy of captain Suryakumar Yadav. The former India opener was left shocked after the BCCI released a 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series starting on January 22. While discussing the team selection on his YouTube channel, Chopra mentioned how India have changed their T20I captains multiple times in recent years.
“India have had 10 captains in T20Is in the last five years. Suryakumar Yadav is the current captain. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the captain some time ago and before that, Hardik Pandya was the captain for a long time, and then Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. KL Rahul also captained. Even Shubman Gill did the captaincy,” the cricketer-turned-commentator explained.
Surya permanently took over the charge after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Before that, Pandya had led India in several bilateral series when Rohit was absent. The all-rounder has served as the skipper in 16 T20Is and won ten of them.
Going by his captaincy records, Chopra wondered how Pandya was not assigned the leadership role for the England series. If not the skipper, Chopra expected him to at least become the vice-captain when Surya was named the successor of Rohit.
“What happened with Hardik Pandya? No one is thinking or talking about him. What exactly has happened? His T20 World Cup was very good and after that, he played a lot of domestic cricket as well. He is an IPL team’s captain and India have won five of the six T20I series he has captained. Hardik Pandya used to be the captain when Rohit wasn’t available,” he said.
Chopra further asked if the selectors had considered Pandya’s performance as the Mumbai Indians captain in the last IPL. “You cannot blame him for the Mumbai Indians’ bad season. Even if he had a bad season and his captaincy might have been bad, what does the Indian team have to do with that? The Indian team’s captaincy is not decided based on how you captain for the franchise,” he added.
Pandya last represented Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He also featured in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 31-year-old will return to action when India face England in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
