Explained: Why 30-year-old star got picked over Hardik Pandya as India’s vice captain for T20I against England
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally revealed the Indian squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England. Mohammed Shami has marked his return in the squad after a long time as an injury layoff remained the highlight of India’s T20I squad.
The squad has witnessed some notable removals, including senior players Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The BCCI has gone with Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Dhruv Jurel as the preferred options for these positions.
Nitish Reddy has also earned a well-deserved call for the T20I side after he gave out a spectacular show in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Suryakumar Yadav will keep on leading the team, along with important players like Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh also being retained.
The pace attack is going to consist of Mohammed Shami, along with Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh. Spin department will have a combination of Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, and Washington Sundar.
One thing that has shocked everyone was shift in the leadership structure. Axar Patel has been preferred over Hardik Pandya, and got named as the vice-captain for India in the series against England. This adds a new chapter to the ongoing debate of vice-captaincy within Indian team.
The absence of Hardik Pandya from the leadership role has sparked some questions. Pandya has served as a vice-captain at the 2024 T20 World Cup, and was expected to succeed Rohit Sharma as the regular T20I skipper. However, as the events have unfolded, the team management went with Suryakumar Yadav as the skipper instead of him.
Pandya was considered to be a natural successor to Rohit Sharma, but has now seen his chance of being the leader diminish. Though he served as the vice-captain during the successful T20 World Cup campaign, he has not been given leadership duties for the current time.
On the other hand, Axar Patel’s promotion to being the vice-captain is well-deserved. He played an important role in India’s T20 World Cup victory last year, as he made respectable contributions with both the bat and the ball. Along with that, his performance has also been consistent in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
India’s T20I squad for series against England:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
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