All-rounder Hardik Pandya has failed both as a player and a leader in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2024).
Yet, he was not only named in India’s T20 squad for the World Cup, starting in the United States and the West Indies on June 2, ahead of some of the more deserving candidates, but also appointed the vice-captain.
Being a fast-bowling all-rounder, Pandya provides a balance to the Indian team like no other player, but his lack of form is a serious cause of concern for the Indian cricket community ahead of the marquee tournament.
In 13 games, the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain has scored a mere 200 runs, with an average of 18.18 (strike-rate of 144.93), and taken 11 wickets in 13 matches (economy of 10.59) as his side became the first to get knocked out of IPL 2024 after nine defeats in 13 matches.
Looking at his lacklustre form, India captain Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and others on the selection panel reportedly were not in favour of including Pandya in the T20 World Cup squad.
The decision-makers didn’t want to pick a player based on his reputation.
According to Hindi news website Dainik Jagran, Pandya’s selection happened “under pressure”, though it did not elaborate on what kind of pressure led to his selection.
After the T20 World Cup squad was announced, Agarkar was asked why Pandya was selected despite his poor performances.
The chief selector said that their hands were tied as there was no like-for-like replacement.
It was a diplomatic answer, at best.
Republicworld.com reasoned that Pandya’s inclusion was driven by the Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) vision of grooming him as India’s future T20I captain.
But there have been no suggestions on those lines from the BCCI, especially from its powerful secretary Jay Shah.
Four MI players have been included in the India World Cup squad – Rohit, Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. But not all is well among the group.
Rohit has been upset since he was replaced by Pandya as the MI captain this season, bringing an end to his 10-year reign, and he has reportedly confirmed that he will be moving on to another franchise next season.
The captaincy caused a bit of a rift in the dressing room as reports have indicated that while the overseas players have no problem with Pandya as their captain, the domestic talents continue to look up to Rohit.
