Agarkar's 'no replacement for Hardik Pandya' explains vice-captaincy after Rohit Sharma's experience playing under him
Rohit Sharma (L) and Ajit Agarkar answered a plethora of questions in regard to India’s T20 World Cup squad
Of the many calls that caught the attention after India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup was announced was Hardik Pandya’s appointment as vice-captain. While Hardik did serve as Rohit’s deputy in the ODIs, KL Rahul performed that role at the 2022 T20 World Cup. So, once Rohit took a sabbatical from the 20-overs format following India’s semifinal exit in Adelaide, Hardik took charge of India’s T20I set-up, captaining the team in New Zealand, West Indies and against Sri Lanka at home.
As Indian cricket looks to prepare for the future and groom Rohit’s successor, it’s clear that Hardik is the natural choice in the white-ball formats. However, there were concerns about his vice-captaincy, especially considering his absence from the Indian team since October and his struggles with the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2024. Hardik’s batting form has been underwhelming and his bowling opportunities have been limited. Yet, Ajit Agarkar, the BCCI chairman of selectors, put all doubts to rest, stating that Hardik’s position as vice-captain was always part of the process and not up for discussion.
“Not really. Nothing was discussed with regard to being vice-captain. You want everyone to be in good form. The good part is that he has gotten through all the games for MI, and we have a month and a little bit. We know he is doing that and hope he keeps building on that form. I don’t think there is a replacement for the things he can do. He gives the team balance, and Rohit the option to play different combinations. Fortunately, he has gone well this IPL thus far,” Agarkar said while speaking to the media during a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.
Rohit Sharma on leading Hardik Pandya immediately after playing under him
The T20 World Cup, starting June 2, will see a role reversal for Hardik and Rohit Sharma. Currently playing under Hardik as part of MI’s big leadership change – which clearly hasn’t gone as per plan – Rohit will be back as Pandya’s captain for the big ICC tournament. Rohit has been Hardik’s senior and his captain for the longest part of Pandya’s career, but the experience over the last one month and the coming 30 days promises to alter the dynamics. But not in a bad way, insisted Rohit, who explained how switching back to captaining Hardik from playing under him wouldn’t disturb the flow.
“See, it’s a part of life. Not everything will go your way. It has been a great experience. Earlier, I was not a captain, so it’s nothing new to me. Whatever is there is there, and then you go by it and try to do what is required of you as a player. I have tried to do that for the last month or so,” said Rohit.
“We have actually in the past, if you noticed, whichever format happens, given priority to it. Us being where we are, a lot of players were given a break. The focus was on the 50-overs World Cup, which is why we had to give the T20s a miss. Test cricket was the only constant which we kept playing because we always wanted to continue playing it. That is what we discussed in the selection committee group. Ajit came in little later into the picture, so he wouldn’t have known what would have happened in the earlier selection meetings.”
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