Not even the vice-captaincy for the Sri Lanka T20Is, where he will be coached by his IPL colleague Suryakumar, can console Hardik.
The last time Hardik Pandya was this good was a little more than two weeks ago. In T20 Internationals, he was the best all-round player in the world. He was also the clear winner of the T20 World Cup final, having performed brilliantly with the bat and the ball. Hardik, the deputy to Rohit Sharma, may have thought he should have been captain after India’s triumph because he had retired from that format.
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In actuality, it hasn’t been the case. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the helm, Hardik does not captain an almost fully-fit Indian T20I squad. It’s the man Hardik captains in the Indian Premier League, Suryakumar Yadav.
Hardik is too broken to be comforted by vice-captaincy. He captained Shubman Gill in the Indian Premier League, and he currently serves as the vice-captain of the ODI team.
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Over the last eight months, India has won and lost one World Cup final. In T20Is, three all-time greats have left, along with a head coach who had a big impact. The selectors have clarified what they think a new era in white-ball cricket will entail. The sport is ready for this.
Gill, the captain-in-waiting, is the figurehead rather than either of the captains, and he may not be waiting for very long. Between the Champions Trophy and the World Test Championship final in April of next year, Rohit, the captain of both the Test and ODI teams, will be 38. He will also turn 40 when the next ODI World Cup kicks off. If he is still playing for India by then, let alone leading them, it will be a testament to his perseverance, consistency, and drive.
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Except for the one-year spike from missing the T20 World Cup, Gill’s graph has only increased in the past two years. Gill is currently 24 years old. He had one of the best years as an ODI batsman in 2023, was made captain of an IPL team, and earlier this year, in a fiercely contested Test series against England, demonstrated both his leadership and batting prowess while making the quick transition from junior to senior in a line-up that was in transition and lacked a lot of established players.
The fact that he averaged 56.50 and scored two hundred in that series, making him India’s second-highest run-scorer, would not have shocked anyone. But how he accomplished it was a revelation: even the most proficient stroke player had to work hard, change his technique from inning to inning, persevere through rough patches, and figure out how to score runs on challenging fields. After playing his most Dravidian innings to date—an undefeated, match-winning, four-inning 52 in Ranchi with only one boundary—he accomplished all of that, and his embrace with Rahul Dravid appeared like a coming-of-age moment. It’s probable that those in charge of Indian cricket watched Gill bat that day and recognized the potential for a captaincy.
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It helps, of course, that Gill is a specialist top-order batter. Jasprit Bumrah is India’s most valuable cricketer in every format, but he is a fast bowler and needs periodic rest and rotation to ensure he is present for all the big events. India can’t make him their full-time captain, therefore, even though he is among the most respected figures in their dressing room and one of its sharpest tactical brains.
Suryakumar, meanwhile, is for now a strictly one-format player and one-format captain. India gave him a horses-for-courses Test debut last year and batted him at No. 6 in their ODI World Cup campaign when an injured Hardik left the tournament midway, but it now appears that he has had his chance in the two longer formats. The T20 captaincy is a recognition of Suryakumar’s pre-eminence in that format, and perhaps, too, of its increasing divergence from the other two.
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It’s unclear, though, if this is a trial run or a long-term position. India’s captaincy has historically not been divided unless necessary, as demonstrated by MS Dhoni’s decision to finish his Test career. Three years ago, Kohli announced his intention to keep leading in Tests and ODIs after he resigned from the T20I position. However, he was not granted his demand with the 50-over squad and soon after relinquished his position as Test captain.
The BCCI made it plain when it invited applications for the position that they preferred an all-format captain and coach, thus Suryakumar’s appointment may only be temporary, with Gill prepared to take over at some stage.
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How does Hardik end up after all of this? Among the individuals who may have been considered for present or future captaincy responsibilities, he is only two months older than Bumrah, three years younger than Suryakumar, and a year and a half younger than KL Rahul. However, injuries have taken away a lot of Hardik’s playing time; since the beginning of 2022, he has only appeared in 46 T20Is and 23 ODIs for India.
Keeping himself in peak physical condition and prepared for bowling will become increasingly difficult for him now that he is thirty. His fitness record was likely the deciding factor in his relegation, while other considerations might have also played a role.
But when healthy, he can still bat anywhere from No. 4 to No. 7 and pitch well enough to be one of three seamers. He is a world-class white-ball operator. There are many other all-around players in India; Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and Riyan Parag are on both teams going to Sri Lanka; nevertheless, none of them can balance a team like Hardik can.
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But when he’s healthy, Hardik is that player, and if he stays healthy, he should be able to stay that way, at least in Twenty20 Internationals. He is now taking a hiatus from 50-over cricket, so it’s uncertain if he still wants to play ODIs and whether the selectors will welcome him back if he makes himself available.
Thus, throughout his career, Hardik has caused the selectors, coaches, and captains of India headaches. He has the potential to be a superstar in every format, but his injury history has essentially made him a one-format player who is frequently unavailable or just partially available in that format when playing as a batter alone. His hopes of becoming captain have most likely been dashed by this.
For a player who has never played down his aspirations, that must be a devastating concept. However, it might also prompt the competitive side of him to consider the extent of his goals and the amount of himself he is prepared to sacrifice to achieve them.
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