Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and fallacies as a skipper were exposed recently in the 3-2 series loss against West Indies in the West Indies and the USA.
Hardik Pandya made some serious, terrible, schoolboy errors as a captain while making bowling changes and in his decisions while captaining the team on the field. His usage, or lack of it, of Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar made fans question whether Hardik Pandya does know the strengths of these two bowlers.
Yes, Hardik Pandya had built his reputation as a captain with his success in leading the Gujarat Titans in the last two IPL seasons, taking the team to the title once and finishing as runner-up this year.
However, the stark difference between captaining India and Gujarat Titans is that he had one of the strongest-ever T20 bowling attack in franchise cricket at the Titans and things went mostly on autopilot mode where the experienced and highly-skilled GT bowlers already knew what they had to do. On the other hand, in the Indian team without Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj, Hardik Pandya as captain needed to marshall and maneuver them, which he failed to do with as much effectiveness as he did at GT.
Further, he met plenty of criticism for not allowing Tilak Varma reach his fifty in the 3rd T20I and also for his silly comments made on this tour.
The management and selectors may have earmarked Hardik Pandya as the captain for next year’s T20 World Cup, but there is still plenty of time left for that, and if things continue to go downhill, they might look for options to lead India in T20Is.
Here are 3 other cricketers who can lead India in T20Is instead of Hardik Pandya:
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah has captained India only once so far – in last year’s Edgbaston Test – and he will lead India in the upcoming 3-T20I series in Ireland, where he will be leading a second-string side as the first-choice players are rested to prepare for the Asia Cup.
Bumrah has made a reputation for being a shrewd cricketer, who understands the conditions, game situation, and, importantly for a leader, his players as well. That’s what prompted the selectors to make him India’s first-ever proper fast bowler Test captain last year.
India’s spearhead pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, could make a very good T20I captain because of his cricketing smarts.
Rishabh Pant
Who knows if Rishabh Pant had been fit, he would have been given the reins instead of Hardik Pandya. Pant is expected to recover and make a comeback by January 2024.
Rishabh Pant has captained Delhi Capitals to playoffs once and one time just failed from the 4th spot. He has been praised by his teammates for giving them plenty of confidence especially when they are out of form, for example, Kuldeep Yadav credited Pant, his DC skipper, in reviving his career last year. Pant is someone who makes good friends with his teammates, a quality in a respected captain.
He has also captained India in a 5-T20I series against South Africa at home in June 2022, which ended in 2-2 tie.
Suryakumar Yadav
In the absence of Rohit, Pant, and Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav has been the T20I vice-captain and Hardik’s deputy in the last couple of T20I series for India. Suryakumar also got to captain Mumbai Indians once in IPL 2023 when Rohit was injured.
So clearly, Suryakumar Yadav is seen in the leadership group and could one day lead India as well. Suryakumar gets along nicely with all his teammates, gives confidence to his players, and is loved and respected by all due to his jolly nature and he likes to keep a smile on his face, always a good indicator of a trustable skipper.
He understands the T20 game better than many players and would make a solid India T20I captain, if given an opportunity.
