Uthappa’s Perspective on Hardik Pandya & T20I Captaincy

Robin Uthappa believes Hardik Pandya shouldn’t feel bad about not becoming India’s new T20I captain. He was the deputy to Rohit Sharma during the successful 2024 T20 World Cup and the first name floating around to replace him as the captain after Rohit retired from T20Is. But the selection committee selected Suryakumar Yadav as the new captain, while Shubman Gill was appointed the vice-captain. According to chief selector Ajit Agarkar, Hardik’s recent injury problems were the main reason behind not giving him the captaincy.

Robin Uthappa’s View on the Decision

Robin Uthappa is quite close to Hardik Pandya, and he believes the BCCI made a wise decision.  Uthappa felt that Hardik Pandya should view it as a positive move for his career. He said he felt that if he were in Hardik’s place, he would think that the selectors would look out for him. Looking at Hardik’s history of injuries, when Uthappa said this, it would be a better way of playing for India for a longer period. According to Uthappa, this decision is better for Hardik and the team in the long run. Uthappa said:

If I were in Hardik’s place, I would feel taken care of to a certain extent. If I’m 34–35 years old and I’m someone who’s been injury-prone through my career and a certain responsibility has been taken away from me with the mindset of extending my career and giving me the best chance to offer my services to my country for as long as possible, keeping that in view, I would actually say OK, this is the best thing for me.

Uthappa is sure that Hardik will be fine with the decision. He believes Hardik Pandya would rather play on as opposed to burdening himself with the extra responsibility of being a captain. Hardik will appreciate the selectors’ point of view. Given the opportunity to keep playing for India without the added pressure of having to lead it, he will like it. Uthappa believes Hardik is dedicated to his country and wants to help the team succeed in any way he can. He added:

If you asked me the two things I would pick as a human being, I would say serving my country and winning as many World Cup championships as possible, irrespective of whether I was a captain or just a player. Knowing Hardik Pandya on a certain level, I would say he’d be someone who says it’s fine; their perspective is also right. They want a player of my quality and caliber to be able to serve my country for as long as possible. And I would love to do that as well.

Robin Uthappa’s Perspective on T20I Captaincy

The permanent captaincy of India for T20I cricket for Suryakumar Yadav will start with the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, in which Hardik will feature as his subordinate. Now, the three-match T20I series is going to start on July 27 and will be followed by games on July 28 and 30. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma is coming back to the team as leader in the ODI format; India is going to play three one-day internationals in Colombo on August 2, 4, and 7. The idea has been well thought out, with the workload shared among more players, taking care of welfare and adding advantage to the side while playing at the international level.