'Couldn't gain respect' - Hardik Pandya's terrible MI campaign cost him T20I captaincy, claims ex-Sri Lanka star

Hardik Pandya not getting the India T20I captaincy has caused quite a stir in the cricket fraternity. The India allrounder was the front-runner to take over the captaincy after Rohit Sharma's retirement.

Rohit retired from the shortest format of the game last month after leading India to victory in the T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain during the competition and was one of the best performers. He delivered with both bat and ball as India ended their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.

With the bat, he scored 144 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of over 151. He was equally effective with the ball as well. In 8 games, Hardik Pandya picked up 11 wickets including the huge wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller in the final.

Following his impressive displays in the T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya became the toast of the nation and was widely expected to replace Rohit as the T20I captain. However, the selectors and the newly appointed team management decided to spring a surprise by naming Suryakumar Yadav as the captain.

Russel Arnold on Hardik Pandya not getting T20I captaincy:

With Hardik Pandya not getting the T20I captaincy, former Sri Lanka star Russel Arnold believes the India star's poor display as captain in this year's IPL played a big role in the selectors' decision. After two highly successful seasons as captain of Gujarat Titans in the last two years, Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024.

He replaced Rohit as the captain but failed to justify the decision. Not only did he struggle as a captain but also as an allrounder. Mumbai Indians looked like a disjointed unit and eventually finished at the bottom of the points table with just 4 wins from 14 games. Russel Arnold said that Pandya struggled to earn the respect of his teammates and it might have prompted the BCCI to opt for a different option as India's 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," he added.

Meanwhile, India will be playing their first T20I series under new captain Suryakumar later this week when the three-match series against Sri Lanka gets underway. The first game is scheduled to be played on July 27.