According to former Sri Lanka batter Russel Arnold, Hardik Pandya was not given the T20I captaincy because of his performance as a skipper for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024.

He was Rohit Sharma’s deputy during India’s title-winning campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. However, Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir decided to hand over the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that fitness issues were behind Hardik’s demotion.

In a conversation with Sports Tak ahead of the T20I series between India and Sri Lanka, Arnold feels the call was made because Hardik failed to earn the respect of the MI dressing room during IPL 2024.

“Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are good players. They have different skills. Surya is one of the better T20 batters, and he reads the game like no one else. I think Hardik couldn’t get the respect of the players around him in the MI team, forcing the BCCI to look for a different skipper,” Arnold said.

“It is important to keep everyone on the same page so that you can pull in one direction. I know Hradik would have done it, but Suryakumar has more chance of achieving it. He has a chance to showcase what he can do as a leader.”