New Delhi. India has to play T20 matches after 10 days on the Sri Lanka tour but the team has not been announced yet. The delay in the selection of Team India is raising many questions. Is this the effect of Gautam Gambhir becoming the head coach? Is there any confusion in choosing a new captain after Rohit Sharma’s T20 retirement? Is there any equation between the new captain and the head coach, which the BCCI is unable to solve? Amidst all the speculations of cricket, the equation of the new captain and the head coach seems to be closest to the truth. Let’s know how.
If BCCI sources are to be believed, Hardik Pandya is the first choice of the selectors as the captain of the Indian T20 team. Pandya’s claim is also very natural. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup. After the retirement of the captain (Rohit Sharma), the claim of the vice-captain is the first. Especially, if that player was made the vice-captain two years ago thinking that he would replace the captain.
Pandya has proved his ability
Hardik Pandya has captained India in 16 T20 matches. He has proved his ability by making the new team Gujarat Titans the champion in IPL. Seeing Hardik’s captaincy, Mumbai Indians traded this player from Gujarat Titans. If we talk about replacement in the team, no player fits better than Hardik. He is the only all-rounder in the country, who is fit to play in any format and on any ground.
Suryakumar’s name suddenly emerged
After all, when Hardik Pandya meets all the necessary criteria for captaincy, then what is stopping him from becoming the captain? While searching for this answer, Gautam Gambhir’s name comes up. A BCCI official told PTI that till recently Pandya was at the forefront in the race for captaincy. In a way, he was everyone’s choice. But Suryakumar’s name has suddenly and very quickly emerged in this race. He can prove to be a dark horse.
Pandya’s injury history is old
It is believed that Gautam Gambhir is pushing the name of Suryakumar Yadav instead of Hardik Pandya for the T20 team. There is no politics behind this. Gambhir wants a captain whose playing in the T20 World Cup 2026 is not in doubt. Gambhir sees Surya ahead of Pandya in this race. The reason is not Pandya’s game, but his injury history. Pandya has withdrawn from IPL as well as World Cup due to injury. From the team management to cricket fans, everyone knows this. This is the reason why the selectors are cautious about Pandya and he is fielded only in big matches.
Gambhir and Surya played together for KKR
Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar’s connection with Kolkata Knight Riders is also one aspect of this equation. Suryakumar Yadav came into the limelight for the first time while playing for KKR. Gautam Gambhir was the captain of the team then. It is said that Gautam gave Surya the name SKY. This trust of Gautam is now pushing Surya ahead in the race for captaincy. But it is not just about trust. Suryakumar Yadav captains Mumbai from Ranji to Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has a lot of experience of captaincy, which can be useful for Team India.
Should a player’s right to captaincy be taken away just because of the fear of injury? The straight answer is – no. No one knows when a player will get injured. And then Surya, who is being pushed forward in the race for captaincy in place of Hardik, has himself returned to Team India after an injury of about 5 months.
The coach feels comfortable with the new captain
Apart from the fear of injury, team combination, experience, there is one more thing, which no one deliberately wants to talk about. This is about a new coach coming to the team and making a name, who is coming with his own plan. Before becoming the coach, Gambhir must have told the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) about the future plan. Now whether it is Team India or any other, it is easy for any new coach to implement and get the plan implemented when the captain is new. If the captain is old, strong and successful, then the coach is not able to dominate him. Then the coach is in the role of an advisor or elder brother. Now it is not necessary that every coach wants to become an advisor or elder brother. We have seen two types of experiences in Indian cricket. One is from Gary Kirsten to Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, who are happy in the role of elder brother. They work behind the scenes. The other is Greg Chappell, a club coach, who dominates the captain. We all have seen that during Chappell’s tenure, the then captain Rahul Dravid took many decisions which were not expected of him.
Coach Gambhir knows how to dominate the captain
Gautam Gambhir as a coach or mentor still seems close to Chappell’s style. When he was the coach of Lucknow Supergiants, he was more active than other coaches. Gambhir, sitting in the dugout, was seen getting angry at the players. Once he even got up and went to fight with a player of the opposing team, who is also his junior (Virat Kohli) from the Delhi team. Gautam Gambhir took more credit for the title win in Kolkata Knight Riders than captain Shreyas Iyer. In such a situation, it would not be wrong to believe that Gambhir should put forward the name of a player for captaincy, who listens to him more.
The Indian Cricket Board is stuck in this dilemma. On one hand, Hardik Pandya has a legitimate right and on the other hand, the new coach has his own choice. It remains to be seen what solution the board finds to this confusion.
Tags: Gautam Gambhir, Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Team India
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 17, 2024, 12:14 IST