IPL 2024: "There Can’t Be Replacement For..." - Yuvraj Singh On Hardik Pandya Replacing Rohit Sharma As Captain

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh reckons the Indian cricket team will require the services of Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder is an important member of the team. Hardik Pandya suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup game against Bangladesh. He is still out of the game and has missed the subsequent series against Australia and South Africa, and now the T20I series against Afghanistan.

Hardik Pandya was expected to lead the Indian team in the ongoing series against Afghanistan but failed to recover on time and as a result, Team India called back Rohit Sharma in the shortest format to lead the side. Hardik Pandya is expected to make his comeback in the IPL 2024 where he will be leading Mumbai Indians this season.

As the ICC T20 World Cup and IPL 2024 are coming near, Hardik Pandya is making a concerted effort to regain his full fitness. He is determined to play for India in the T20 World Cup and despite facing setbacks he is doing his best to regain full fitness in order to represent his team in the upcoming events. Hardik Pandya missed four months of cricket after suffering an injury in the World Cup.

Yuvraj Singh was asked if it was a gambling project to make Hardik Pandya the future captain of the Indian team to which he said that the management should give him time to recuperate and settle down. He urged the Indian team to get the best out of him and in terms of captaincy asked the management to have a few more options apart from Hardik suggesting Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill’s name.

Yuvraj Singh Wants India To Have A Few Other Options Than Hardik Pandya To Lead The Side

“Hardik is a very important member of the team and India needs him. He is injury-prone and we need to give him time to recuperate and settle down. We have to get the best out of him. As for captaincy, we need to have more options. There is Suryakumar Yadav, who has been captaining India in T20Is. There is Shubman Gill, who’ll be captain in IPL,” Yuvraj told TOI.

Talking about the captaincy change at Mumbai Indians (MI), Yuvraj Singh said that Rohit Sharma has been a great captain but the franchise has to take tough decisions and keep an eye on the future.

“In franchise cricket, it always gets tough as you get old. Every franchise is always looking to promote a young player on whom they have spent a lot, and that is only fair. I have faced this situation too. But then, there can’t be a replacement for experience. Rohit has huge experience and has delivered. But a franchise has to think long term,” said Yuvraj.

Hardik Pandya was given the responsibility to lead the Indian team in the shortest format after BCCI asked Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to focus on longer formats after the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022. He had a decent run winning the series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka but then lost the T20I series against West Indies.

Since the loss against West Indies, he has not led the Indian team in any series and after his injury in the World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav was given the role to lead the side in the T20I series against Australia and South Africa. Hardik Pandya will be back in the IPL and will lead the Mumbai-based franchise as they have announced him as their new skipper removing Rohit Sharma from the role.

India is currently facing Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series and then they will face England in a five-match Test series starting on January 25 with the first Test to be played in Hyderabad. Hardik Pandya will hopefully be available for the T20 World Cup which is scheduled in June.