The next few matches of Team India will be engaging, as Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach, and Suryakumar Yadav, the new T20I captain, have been appointed.
Gambhir was expected to replace the outing Rahul Dravid, but SKY’s name was never in contention, with Hardik Pandya the only candidate. However, the situation changed dramatically after Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup 2024, and Suryakumar was given the captain’s armband in T20Is.
This sudden change of heart of the selection committee has raised many questions. What will Hardik Pandya do? Will this move impact his bond with India and Mumbai Indians teammate Suryakumar?
When Pandya met Surya and hugged him, it seemed all was well. However, recent developments have suggested that everything is not okay. According to Dainik Jagran, Hardik was missing from Suryakuamr Yadav’s first huddle as a captain.
“Today was the first practice session of the Indian team in Sri Lanka. The source present there said that when the new captain, Suryakumar Yadav, called the team for the first time in the Hurdle to address it, Hardik Pandya was omitted. Now, it is not known why he was not there at that time. However, he joined the practice session later,” the scribe posted on X.
His post added that Hardik joined the group later, and head coach Gambhir had a word with the former vice-captain.
Gambhir wants to have a happy dressing room to make it a winning dressing room.
“It is known that after Rohit Sharma left the T20 captaincy, the vice-captain Hardik was the contender, but the new coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the selectors handed over the command of the team to Surya. However, during this time, he was seen having a long discussion with Gambhir. He also talked to him about batting stance,” the post said further.