'I hope he will...,' Suryakumar reacts on becoming India T20I skipper over Hardik Pandya
Bangladesh tour of India: Gwalior replaces Dharamsala for T20I contest, confirms BCCI
India's new T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav says Hardik Pandya is a very important player of the team. The comments came days after Surya pipped Pandya to become the new T20I skipper followingRohit Sharma's retirement.
“Hardik's role has always been the same. He is a very important player for the team. The way he performed in the World Cup, I hope he will continue to do the same,” Surya told reporters on the eve of the first T20I against Sri Lanka.
Hardik, who was Rohit's deputy in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, lost out on the captaincy due to fitness issues as per the BCCI.
Surya's first assignment is going to be the three-T20I series against Sri Lanka which starts on Sunday(Jul 28). The series also marks Gautam Gambhir's maiden oneas the new head coach.
Apart from Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja's retirement, Rahul Dravid also decided not to continue as India head coach after T20 WC glory.
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Hardik, as SKY mentioned, played a pivotal role in India's title-winning campaign, scoring 144 runs and taking 11 wickets throughout the tournament. Hardik also bowled the last over against South Africa in the final.
The all-rounder and SKY came togetherto take out David Miller who was Proteas' last hope to win the ICC trophy.
After SKY's announcement as T20I skipper, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar saidthat Pandya's fitness concerns and workload management were the main issues behind the decision.
Before the T20 World Cup, Hardik had last played in the 2023 ODI World Cup during which he got injured. The all-rounder only returned to competitive cricket during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season.
India Squad for T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.
