‘I would actually say...’: Robin Uthappa shares his take on Hardik Pandya being snubbed from T20I captaincy

Former Indian opener Robin Uthappa has shared his opinion on Hardik Pandya losing T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav. With Gautam Gambhir taking over from Rahul Dravid as the India head coach, his first big decision was to announce the new T20I skipper following Rohit Sharma's retirement after the 2024 T20 World Cup win. Gambhir and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar named Suryakumar as the new captain and reasoned that they need a captain who can play all T20Is. With Hardik being injury-prone, he, thus, missed out on leading India in T20Is despite being the stand-in captain from late 2022-2023 during Rohit's sabbatical.

'If I'm 34-35 years old and I'm someone who's been injury-prone through my career...'

Recently, Uthappa -- winner of the 2007 T20 WC -- opened up and shared his take on Hardik not being appointed captain.During a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports Network, Uthappa said,"If I were in Hardik's place, I would actually feel taken care of to a certain extent. Because within the Indian cricket ecosystem, a fast-bowling all-rounder is a very rare commodity.If I'm 34-35 years old and I'm someone who's been injury-prone through my career and a certain responsibility has been taken away from me with the mindset of extending my career and giving me the best chance to offer my services to my country for as long as possible, keeping that in view, I would actually say OK this is the best thing for me."

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The former right-handed batter Uthappa pointed out, "Yes, leading India and leading a country is one of the greatest honours that any figure can ever imagine. I think, uh, the larger picture would be, can I serve my country for as long as possible and win as many world championships for my country as long as possible."

He further mentioned, "If you asked me between the two what I would pick as a human being, I would say, serving my country and winning as many World Cup championships, irrespective of whether I was a captain or whether I was just a player. "

Uthappa added, "Knowing Hardik Pandya on a certain level, I would say he'd be someone saying it's fine, their perspective is also right. They want a player of my quality and my caliber to be able to serve my country for as long as possible. And I would love to do that as well. I would love to do that in the white format, which I'm currently available for. I can leave whenever, whenever required. God forbid if Suryakumar Yadav has an injury. I'm available, and I'm playing a bunch of tournaments. The need ever requires I will always be available to lead my country, but I would love to serve my country in white-ball cricket."

Hardik is part of the Surya-led Indian T20I team thatwill lock horns with Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series starting on Saturday (July 27) in the island nation. India will also play three ODIs after the T20I leg with Rohit set to return and take charge.