‘Not surprised’: GT coach Ashish Nehra shares his take on Hardik Pandya’s T20I captaincy snub
Hardik Pandya was snubbed from T20I captaincy after Gautam Gambhir took over as India's new head coach, post Rahul Dravid's resignation.
With India winning the 2024 T20 World Cup last month, held in West Indies and USA, Rohit Sharma retired from the format. Given Hardik served as his deputy in the mega event and also led India in many games during Hitman's sabbatical from T20Is, the all-rounder was the obvious choice to take over but Gambhir, and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, named Suryakumar Yadav as the new skipper. They reasoned out that since Hardik has been injury-prone, they need a captain who is on the field and available for all games.
Recently, Ashish Nehra -- former Indian pacer -- opined on Hardik's T20I captaincy snub. Nehra, who has worked with Hardik in Gujarat Titans (GT) during IPL 2022-23, feels 'not surprised' with the decision. The ex-speedster further mentioned that such changes are uncommon and lauded Gambhir-Agarkar for communicating it all with Hardik.
Talking to Sports Tak, Nehra said, "No, I am not surprised. When it comes to cricket, these things keep happening. Yes, Hardik Pandya was vice-captain in the World Cup, but at the same time, there is a new coach who has come in. Every coach and every captain have different thoughts. At this time, his (Gambhir's) ideas are toward that direction."
He stated, "I think Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir have made it clear, that's good. He is playing one format, 50-over also, he is playing less. Hardik Pandya, in white-ball cricket, will remain a very, very important player for Indian cricket. When you have him, you can have 4 fast bowlers, he brings a different balance to the side and keeps in mind, that there's no impact player in international cricket."
"Not just Hardik Pandya, but when you have so many matches, there will be changes. Even Rishabh Pant has captained, KL Rahul has captained," Nehra reasoned.
Hardik-Nehra were a successful captain-coach pair when GT were inducted into IPL in 2022. They won the championship in their maiden appearance and ended as runners-up in 2023 before Hardik moved to his former franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2024. Following this, Shubman Gill took over and was named the new GT skipper. While he didn't have a desirable start, Gill was recently entrusted with captaincy during India's tour of Zimbabwe, where they won a five-match T20I series 4-1.
Despite some of his calls being criticised, Gill has been named India's white-ball vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour, which starts on July 27 (Saturday). Nehra opened up on the youngster and said, "They have made Shubman Gill in not just one format but in all three formats. That means you are looking ahead."
The ODI World Cup winner added, "Shubman Gill is a work in progress. He is 24-25 years old now. He will get better as we go ahead. He has the desire to play all 3 formats, he has the heart to learn. He is not someone who thinks that whatever he is doing is right. He is not that kind of guy. Be it a youngster or an experienced player, he likes to have a discussion and learn."