Mumbai: Once Rohit Sharma retired from the T20I format, Hardik Pandya was the frontrunner to take over and become the new leader in the format. But that was not to be as Suryakumar Yadav was preferred over Hardik. Days later, former Sri Lanka cricketer Russell Arnold has claimed that it must have been Hardik’s poor show in the IPL for the Mumbai Indians that made him out-of-favour as the captain.
“Well, both are exceptional players. They bring different things to the party. Suryakumar Yadav is probably one of the better T20 batters going around and the way he plays it, he obviously has to see and read the game like no one else. Hardik has also shown that. But I reckon with how the IPL went and whereas Hardik couldn’t really gain the respect of everyone around him, might have prompted BCCI to look in a different direction,” Arnold told Sports Tak.
“It’s about getting everyone to gel and keeping everyone calm and happy so that you can pull in the one direction. I’m not saying that wouldn’t have happened under Hardik, but I guess, at this particular moment, it was a good opportunity and it’s a great opportunity for Suryakumar to showcase what he can do and make it his own,” added Arnold.
The Indian team is currently in Sri Lanka where they play a white-ball series. Suryakumar Yadav would be leading the T20I team. Spotlight would most certainly be on Suryakumar and Gambhir during the series in Sri Lanka starting July 27.
