Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif backed Hardik Pandya after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Suryakumar Yadav as Rohit Sharma's successor for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka. Kaif stated that the star all-rounder has captained Gujarat Titans (GT) in two Indian Premier League (IPL) and under his leadership the franchise won their inaugural title and played the final in the second season.
"Hardik has captained the Gujarat Titans for 2 years and in their first year itself, they made it to the final... Hardik has experience captaining the T20I side. He was also the vice-captain at the T20 World Cup. Now, a new coach has arrived, there will be new planning. Surya is also a good player, he has been playing for years. He is a no.1 T20 player, I hope he will shoulder the captain's responsibility well. But, I feel they should have backed Hardik," Kaif told IANS.
Hardik has captained India in 16 T20Is and three ODIs but an injury in the ODI World Cup 2023 sidelined him for months. During this period, Suryakumar was named captain. Under Suryakumar’s leadership, India won five out of seven games.
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"He has experience, has captained in the IPL and leading a new team (Gujarat Titans) to trophy, with fresh and young faces, is a huge thing. He has made the Titans win by working from Ground Zero in the IPL...I think he was entitled to the captaincy. So let's just wait and see," Kaif added.
India's T20I squad for Sri Lanka series:
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.
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