Indian Cricket Board Set To Put More Responsibilities On Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya and Indian Cricket Board (Image Source: Twitter)
Hardik Pandya is currently busy playing the five-match T20I series in West Indies. Since his comeback, his form has been sensational for India and franchise cricket. In this year’s Indian T20 League, he made a comeback from injury and won the tournament as a leader for the Gujarat franchise.
After that, he came back into the Indian setup and played in both the T20I and ODI formats. He also led India in Ireland in two T20I matches. In England ODIs, he became the player of the series. India won both the ODI and T20I series in England. Now, as per reports, the Indian Cricket Board is set to add more responsibilities to Hardik Pandya ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Hardik Pandya will be named the vice-captain for the T20 World Cup – Reports
Speaking to InsideSport, an official of the Indian Cricket Board said that Pandya is a world-class player. He has become a leader in the group already. There is a possibility for him to become the permanent vice-captain for India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The official said: “Hardik is a world-class player and it’s great to have him back in the team at full fitness. Whether he will be named vice-captain is up to the selectors. But he is already a leader in the group. As an all-rounder, he understands both situations. He has outstanding leadership skills and we saw that in the Indian T20 League. He will surely do well,”
However, he also said that KL Rahul will be the vice-captain in the ODI and Test formats. The source also gave clarity regarding Hardik Pandya’s chances of playing Test matches for India in the near future. “It’s important to manage his workload being an all-rounder. We have a lot of T20s and ODIs coming up and it will not be possible for an all-rounder to play all three formats. Instead, he will focus on white-ball formats. As for Tests, we have Jadeja and Shardul for the all-rounder slots and they have done well. Once Deepak comes back from injury, he will also be considered for Tests,” the official concluded.
