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Hardik Not Confirmed as T20I Captain, BCCI Evaluates Suryakumar; Gambhir’s Vote to Decide Rohit’s Successor: Report

ccording to reports, Hardik Pandya’s T20I captaincy is not yet confirmed. Regarding Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, the BCCI is agitated. Pandya led the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean last month as vice captain. Following India’s victorious run that broke their 13-year World Cup title drought, regular captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the game. Pandya was the obvious choice to take over. However, things in the BCCI are now not so easy.

A report claims that there are disagreements among the members of the selection committee and the board. And Pandya’s questionable fitness standards are the main cause of that. The board officials are hesitant to name Pandya as the permanent T20I captain, even though he is by far the best seam-bowling all-round player in the nation. He contributed with the bat or ball, or occasionally both, in nearly every match, and was an obvious match-winner in white-ball cricket. His fitness is the primary cause of that.

Pandya’s eight-year international career has been marred by repeated significant injuries, to the point that he has chosen not to play red-ball cricket at all. He even controls his workload very well when playing white-ball cricket. The all-rounder was eliminated from the ODI World Cup after just two league games. He needed almost five months to fully recover and get ready for the contest. A lot of people think that cost him the T20I captaincy. After all, from November 2022 to December 2023, he served as India’s unofficial T20I captain.

The BCCI does wish to select a captain who is prone to emotional outbursts and missing crucial series. It is a sensitive subject. Everyone is not in agreement since there is a disagreement on both sides of the issue. A senior BCCI insider stated, “Hardik’s fitness is a concern, although he was instrumental in ending India’s ICC curse.

This is where Suryakumar Yadav’s name has been mentioned. In T20Is, he is without a doubt the best batsman, especially when Rohit and Kohli are not involved. In addition, he demonstrated his leadership abilities during the home series against Australia that followed the ODI World Cup and the subsequent visit to South Africa. The insider stated, “As for Suryakumar, we have heard from the team that the dressing room enjoyed his captaincy style.”

Gambhir’s vote to decide India’s next T20I captain after Rohit Sharma

The article also states that Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach, will have a significant say in the ultimate choice. While leading the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gambhir collaborated closely with Suryakumar.

There is not much time left for BCCI and the selection committee to make a choice. This week marks the first selection meeting between Gambhir and the Ajit Agarkar-led committee.Two squads for the ODI and T20I series in Sri Lanka will be unveiled shortly. India’s tour of Sri Lanka in three Twenty20 Internationals and as many One-Day Internationals will mark the beginning of the Gambhir era in Indian cricket.

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In many respects, it will also provide a crystal-clear picture of what lies ahead for Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja in the Indian T20I team. Pandya has allegedly requested a sabbatical from the 50-over format, thus KL Rahul will captain the team in ODIs.