Under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir a new era of Indian cricket begins, the Indian team has left for Sri Lanka to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. Surya Kumar Yadav is appointed as captain of T20Is, while Rohit Sharma will continue as skipper for ODIs.
Many shocking things were seen when the squad was announced Ruturaj Gaikwad had a great series against Zimbabwe but wasn’t selected in the squad. Sanju Samson has been left behind from ODIs.
K Srikkanth slams Ajit Agarkar
Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarakar addressed to media first time after appointing Gautam Gambhir as head coach. Many questions were asked but one question felt controversial so the question was regarding the sacking of Hardik Pandya as T20Is captain, Ajit Agarkar replied that Hardik Pandya had a fitness issue and that if the player is not fully fit then you can’t lead well. Such a reply is former Indian cricketer and World Cup champion K Srikkanth slams Ajit Agarkar for this reason. K Srikkanth said:
“I think they have gone from the feedback of the dressing room. It must have probably been from the IPL. Fitness is something that I will not agree with. He played the entire IPL. He also bowled. Yes, he might not have done well (in the IPL). That’s another issue. Mumbai Indians didn’t qualify. At the World Cup, he was the vice-captain and he played well. So, fitness is something that I won’t agree with.”
Hardik Pandya had a successful World Cup as he batted well and even bowled well, his role was crystal clear to bat in death overs and finish the game, and also he bowled the final over where South Africa needed 16 runs and India won the World Cup because of this. He faced backlashes in IPL when he was appointed as captain of Mumbai Indians and now after serving as deputy for the Indian team, he is no longer the captain Surya Kumar Yadav has been appointed as captain while Shubman Gill will be his deputy. K Srikkanth further also mentioned that removing Hardik as captain could be a unanimous decision of selectors, K Srikkanth said:
“Suryakumar is a fantastic person. I like him. So is Hardik. But the reasons that they are giving They could have said it straightforwardly ‘We are dropping Hardik Pandya as captain, we want to move forward. We are looking at Suryakumar as a long-term’. Make it clear. Say it without fear.”