It seems like Hardik Pandya’s captaincy in the white-ball matches in the West Indies, and perhaps also some of his comments in interviews on the tour, have not gone down well with the BCCI office bearers and BCCI selectors as the all-rounder is set to be sacked as the vice-captain for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023.
Pandya has been leading India in the past year in white-ball cricket whenever captain Rohit Sharma was rested or injured. Pandya is already touted as the captain to lead India in next year’s T20 World Cup 2024.
However, recent developments have pushed another candidate in the captaincy race: Jasprit Bumrah, who is currently leading India in Ireland on his return to international cricket after 10 months.
Jasprit Bumrah to be named vice-captain over Hardik Pandya
Until Saturday, it was believed that Pandya was going to be named the vice-captain for the Asia Cup 2023 and the World Cup 2023. However, on Sunday morning came the news that Jasprit Bumrah is now leading the two-horse race for the vice-captaincy spot for the Asia Cup.
“If you look in terms of leadership seniority, Bumrah is ahead of Pandya as he captained the Test team in 2022. He has also been ODI vice-captain before Pandya during the ODI tour of South Africa,” a BCCI source in know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“Don’t be surprised if you see Bumrah being made ODI deputy to Rohit for both Asia Cup and World Cup. There is a reason why he was handed captaincy in Ireland instead of Ruturaj,” the PTI source added.
Under Pandya’s captaincy, India lost one ODI match and the T20I series by 3-2 in the West Indies. Not the loss, but some of Hardik’s captaincy choices on the field, and some of his comments made more headlines.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee will sit on Monday to finalize and announce the squad for the Asia Cup. It is believed that the 15-man Asia Cup squad will also be the preliminary squad for World Cup, though the World Cup squad can be tweaked until September 27.
