The BCCI announced the Indian team for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour that would witness the Men in Blue play three T20Is and three ODIs. There were a few surprise changes to the squad, one of which was Hardik Pandya being removed from vice-captaincy for the T20Is while Shubman Gill getting a promotion.
Surya Kumar Yadav was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team for the T20Is against Sri Lanka while Shubman Gill was made his deputy. Similarly for the ODIs, Rohit Sharma would continue to lead the Indian cricket team while Gill will be the vice-captain.
The removal of Pandya’s vice-captaincy came as a shocker, particularly after his incredible performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup where he scored 144 runs at an average of 48 while claiming 11 wickets in the tournament.
Coming on the back of a successful series win against Zimbabwe, Team India decided to persist with quite a few youngsters in the side. The likes of Riyan Parag and Khaleel Ahmed were retained for the T20Is while Shivam DubePandya and Harshit Rana made it to the ODIs.
India’s squad for T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.
India’s squad for ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat KohliKL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
Here is what X had to say about the vice-captaincy call surrounding Hardik Pandya
India fell back 1-0 in the series against Zimbabwe but were ruthless in turning the tide around as they went onto win four back-to-back games against the undercooked hosts to eventually clinch the series by 4-1. There were notable contributions from the Indian bowlers featuring the likes of Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi.
Twitter formerly known as X expressed their rage over the removal of Hardik Pandya from vice-captaincy, especially after a MVP performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup that saw him paving India’s path for glory.
The netizens weren’t particularly happy with the shuffle in the Indian vice-captaincy. They were hoping for a longer run for Pandya but the management felt otherwise. To complicate matters Pandya also announced his divorce from Natasa Stankovic. India will be playing their first T20I against Sri Lanka on 27th July.
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