After defeating Zimbabwe by a 4-1 margin, Team India is all set to face Sri Lanka in a limited over series. The tour contains a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20 series. BCCI has already announced the squad. But there is a twist. In that squad, Shubman Gill has replaced Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain of the team. After watching this change, a lot of buzz was created over that. However, as per the reports, Hardik Pandya was replaced because of the injury concern and workload management.
Gill Replace Hardik in the Vice-Captain Position:
On June 29, Team India lifted the T20 World Cup trophy after such a long wait. After getting injured in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Hardik Pandya made his comeback in international cricket on the T20 World Cup stage. In that tournament, he played a crucial role to lift the trophy. The history will not forget, Hardik Pandya’s last over bowling in the final match of the T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
After that, he was rested for the Zimbabwe series. The twist came when Team India announced their squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Even in the T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain of the team. And for the Sri Lanka tour, Shubman Gill replaced him for the vice-captain’s role.
After Rahul Dravid ended his tenure, Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach of the Indian team. As Rohit Sharma retired from the T20 format, Suryakumar Yadav will be captain of the Indian side in this tour and Gill will be dealing with the Vice-captaincy.
Reason for Hardik’s Exclusion from the Vice-Captaincy:
In Last year’s ODI World Cup, Hardik Pandya sustained an injury in the group-stage match against Bangladesh. After that, he was totally out of cricket. He made his long-awaited comeback in the IPL 2024. But he made his international comeback in the T20 World Cup. Hardik has an impressive captaincy career. Hardik has led India in three One Day Internationals and 16 Twenty20 Internationals.
Hardik’s fitness issues and workload management might be why the Indian selectors chose Suryakumar as the new T20I captain. This can be a reason for his exclusion. Hardik will skip the ODI part of the Sri Lanka series due to personal reasons. He will participate only as an all-rounder in the T20I series against Sri Lanka.
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