Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has joined the bandwagon of former players questioning the reason behind Hardik Pandya's not becoming India's new T20I captain. The BCCI made a bold decision by naming Suryakumar Yadav the new T20I captain over Hardik, who was Rohit Sharma's deputy in the successful T20 World Cup campaign. Hardik, who has led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title, was expected to take over the charge from Rohit, but chief selector Ajit Agarkar pointed out the fitness concerns of the star all-rounder as a reason why BCCI preferred Suryakumar over him for the big role.
Meanwhile, the star all-rounder also lost his T20I vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill as the selection committee wanted a young player to prepare for the future.
Latif, who is very vocal about his views and opinions, feels that fitness is just an excuse for not making Hardik the captain and said if the selectors claim that the all-rounder has fitness concerns, then they should give him an unfit certificate.
"No, here they (the claims) just hand him a certificate saying he isn't fit and there are concerns about his fitness. There are plenty of players who weren't super fit but still became great captains. So, I think it was just an excuse. Because if Surya wasn't around, then Rishabh (Pant) would have been the captain since you have to look at the future," Latif said.
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In a press conference before India left for the Sri Lanka tour, Agarkar revealed the reason why Hardik was not chosen as Rohit's successor in the shortest format.
{{/usCountry}}In a press conference before India left for the Sri Lanka tour, Agarkar revealed the reason why Hardik was not chosen as Rohit's successor in the shortest format.
{{/usCountry}}"Hardik's skill-sets are difficult to find and fitness is difficult to find. we have got a bit more time and we can look at a few things. Fitness was a clear challenge and we wanted someone who was likely to be available more often," Agarkar said.
"We have taken general feedback from the dressing room also," he added.
Hardik will now play under Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy for the first time in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The first T20I of the three-match series will begin on July 27, followed by matches on July 28 and 30.