Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has called for clarification on Hardik Pandya's leadership role in the Indian cricket team. Hardik is expected to succeed Rohit Sharma as the retiring T20I captain after India win the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in June.
Hardik Pandya leads the Indian team in T20I cricket in the absence of Rohit Sharma. The all-rounder has performed brilliantly, winning five of the six T20I matches as captain of the Indian team. But at the last moment, BCCI appointed Suryakumar Yadav as India's new T20I captain for the Sri Lanka series.
Akash Chopra calls for clarification on Hardik Pandya's role in Indian cricket team
Recently, Axar Patel was named vice-captain for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England, raising questions as to why Hardik is no longer being considered for the leadership role. However, the Indian all-rounder remains part of the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against England.
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Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra questioned why Hardik Pandya was overlooked for a leadership role in the Indian cricket team. Highlighting his performance as a player and captain, Chopra is confident that Hardik will definitely feature in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
What happened to Hardik Pandya?
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “What happened to Hardik Pandya? No one is thinking or talking about him. What happened to him? He must He will win the trophy. He has been great in the T20 World Cup. He has captained the Indian team in 6 T20I series and won 5 of them. Victory. When Rohit is unavailable, Hardik becomes the captain.
Furthermore, cricket experts expressed shock at what happened with Hardik Pandya completely off the captaincy radar as he is not even the vice-captain anymore. He stressed that it would be unfair to judge Hardik after a poor IPL season as captain of Mumbai Indians.
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Akash Chopra further explained: “Suddenly, what happened? He was not even the vice-captain. He was not talked about. Mumbai Indians had a bad reason, but you can't blame Hardik for that. Even though His performance and captaincy were terrible but that has nothing to do with Indian cricket.
Akash Chopra says India captaincy does not depend on IPL performance
The former India batsman also pointed out that the captaincy of the Indian team was not decided on the basis of the IPL captaincy and therefore Pandya's situation was beyond his comprehension. Chopra feels that it should be made clear whether Hardik can be considered for the captaincy as the Indian cricket team may have three different captains in the future.
Chopra concluded by saying: “The captaincy of the Indian team is not decided based on the qualifications of the team captain. If that is the case, things are different. Even though the Indian team has nothing to do in the IPL, there are many captains to lead the Indian team Moving forward. It looks like we are moving towards different captaincy in three formats, which is a bit surprising.
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