Hardik Pandya’s future in Indian cricket team
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From becoming the skipper of one of IPL’s most successful franchises, facing boos in his own team’s home ground, playing a key role in India’s World Cup triumph to losing the captaincy, Hardik Pandya has seen it all in the last eight months.
After leading the Indian side in multiple series in the shortest format and playing the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024, Hardik Pandya was expected to become the full-time India captain after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is.
But Pandya faced another shock as he was selected in the T20Is series against Sri Lanka but not as captain. The selectors appointed Suryakumar Yadav as captain and Shubman Gill as vice-captain of team India, as part of their T20 World Cup 2026 preparations plan.
Pandya, who was performing well before injury forced him out of the ODI World Cup 2023, was named captain of Mumbai Indians (IPL franchise) by replacing Rohit Sharma. The news didn’t sit well with MI’s fans and Pandya faced booing in his team’s own home ground during the IPL 2024 matches.
The pressure of leading a big franchise and zero support from the crowd evident in his performance as he ended the IPL 2024 campaign with an underwhelming result.
Despite that, Pandya was selected for T20 World Cup 2024 as vice-captain of team India and played a key role in helping India win their second T20 World Cup.
🤷♂️🏆 pic.twitter.com/3xyHGX92Sb
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) June 29, 2024
Hardik Pandya stats in international cricket
Hardik Pandya has emerged as one of the best all-rounders in modern-day cricket. He has improved a lot in all departments since debut and became a genuine match-winner for India.
Playing mostly in white-ball cricket, Pandya has weared the blue jersey in 86 ODIs so far for India, and 1769 runs at an average of 34.01 and a strike-rate of 110.35.
He completed 100 T20Is for India, in which he scored 1492 at a strike-rate of 140.88 with the bat. Pandya bagged 84 each in both ODIs and T20Is.
| Format | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Matches | 11 | 18 | 1 | 532 | 108 | 31.29 | 73.88 | 1 | 4 |
| One-Day Internationals | 86 | 61 | 9 | 1769 | 92* | 34.01 | 110.35 | 0 | 11 |
| T20 Internationals | 100 | 77 | 21 | 1492 | 71* | 26.64 | 140.88 | 0 | 4 |
Hardik Pandya’s record as India captain
Hardik has captained India in 16 T20Is, winning 10 and losing 5. He also led the Indian team in three ODIs, winning 2 of them.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 63.15 |
Hardik Pandya’s future in Indian cricket team after captaincy snub?
The all-rounder is a competent player in all three departments of the game, he has filled the long-awaited spot of a medium pace all-rounder.
His ability to anchor the innings and hit big shots when needed with the bat, while bowling those crucial overs made him an essential player for India.
Pandya, who is only thirty years old, can contribute greatly to the team with the kind of player he is, and despite being not selected as skipper or faced a snub from captaincy, the all-rounder holds an important place in India’s white-ball set-up.
