'Hardik Pandya will be deeply hurt' - Ex-India batting coach slams BCCI for giving T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that Hardik Pandya should have been India's new T20I captain after the retirement of Rohit Sharma from T20Is. Recently, Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India's new T20I captain despite him being behind the race for the role.

Hardik Pandya was India's vice-captain in the T20 World Cup 2024, where Rohit Sharma led the side to the title win. Rohit announced his retirement after the final and it was expected that Hardik would take over the role being the vice-captain of the side.

But in a huge surprise, the selectors and the new head coach Gautam Gambhir preferred Suryakumar Yadav for India's new T20I captain. According to the reports, the selectors had issues with Hardik's constant fitness concerns which has kept him out of several important games for India in the past. The selectors wanted to manage Hardik's workload, which prompted them to opt for a safer option in Suryakumar Yadav.

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Sanjay Bangar slams BCCI for the treatment of Hardik Pandya

While speaking on 'Follow the Blues' show on Star Sports, Sanjay Bangar opened up about the shocking decision to choose Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as India's next T20I captain.

Bangar felt that although Suryakumar Yadav has enough experience in domestic cricket to lead the Indian side, there has been injustice to Hardik Pandya, who was India's vice-captain earlier.

"It's not that Suryakumar Yadav has played less domestic cricket before playing international cricket. So he has a lot of experience, I think he has led Mumbai in domestic cricket as well and knows how to extract the best from the players," Bangar mentioned.

"So there is nothing wrong in Suryakumar being made the captain. I fully believe that he will do a good job but I still feel a little injustice has been meted out to Hardik," the former India allrounder reckoned.

Bangar expressed his surprise at the decision and felt that Hardik could have been India's captain last year if he hadn't got injured. He also expresses his concerns about the sudden change in the selectors' thinking.

"I am a bit surprised as far as Hardik not being the captain of the T20 team is concerned because even before the previous T20 World Cup it seemed like if Rohit hadn't become the captain and Hardik hadn't gotten injured at that time, Hardik only would have become the captain," he reasoned in the same discussion," Bangar elaborated.

"The Indian team had started going in that direction. The selectors had also found that path. I find this sudden U-turn slightly troubling. We have certainly read that the chairman of the selection committee and the coach have spoken to Hardik Pandya," he added.

"Hardik will be deeply hurt" - Sanjay Bangar

Bangar also added that Hardik Pandya would be hurt by missing out on the opportunity to lead his country despite being so close.

"As a player, you are always understanding what the selectors are trying to do, what the new coach is trying to do but deep within himself, I am pretty sure that Hardik will be deeply hurt that he is not being considered for T20 captaincy," he stated.

Hardik Pandya has led India in 16 T20Is so far and India have won 10 out of them. On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav has led India in seven T20Is so far, having won five out of them. Suryakumar Yadav's first assignment will be the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka which will begin on July 27.