Reports: Ajit Agarkar questions Hardik Pandya’s capacity for tactical leadership

Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill were appointed captain and deputy captain, respectively, in the Twenty20 Internationals for the Sri Lanka tour, meaning Hardik Pandya lost both the vice-captaincy and possibly the captaincy. In his first season leading the Gujarat Titans to their first trophy in 2023, Pandya had a terrible season leading the Mumbai Indians to the IPL 2024 title.

According to reports from the Hindustan Times, Ajit Agarkar, the top selector for the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), has doubts about Pandya’s ability to lead as captain after noticing shortcomings in his leadership with GT and MI in the IPL.

It’s important to remember that the all-round player was also selected to be India’s vice captain for the 2023 World Cup, but he was forced to withdraw from the competition halfway through after suffering an injury during a match against Bangladesh. Despite this, he captained India in three ODIs and sixteen T20Is when Rohit Sharma was not the permanent captain.

After a demanding T20 World Cup campaign, the 30-year-old requested a vacation from the forthcoming white-ball tour, but the management denied the request. Prior to the cricketer’s induction into the T20I team, head coach Gautam Gambhir allegedly expected him to demonstrate his bowling fitness in order to continue playing in the ODI format. In the ODIs, Gambhir expressed doubt about Pandya’s ability to bowl the whole 10 overs and insisted that the right-arm bowler compete for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

BCCI’s selection procedure astounds.

Hardik Pandya, the new captain of the Mumbai Indians, hasn’t participated in an ODI since the World Cup of 2023, and he wasn’t selected for the 50-over team for the next tour of Sri Lanka. India will play Sri Lanka in three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), with the first T20I match starting on July 27. Unexpectedly, the BCCI included Riyan Parag in both formats after Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma were unable to get a spot in either.