Who should lead India in T20Is between Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, is raging the debate after which speculations have filled Indian cricket corridors as the BCCI and Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach of the team prepare to announce white-ball squads for Sri Lanka tour.
Reports suggest that Gambhir prefers Surya to lead in T20Is while BCCI secretary Jay Shah supports Hardik but let’s take a moment and look at what these two players have done for their country in terms of personal records when they captained teams in T20I internationals as well as overall IPL career.
Below are some figures on this matter:
HARDIK PANDYA
T2oI Debut: vs Australia on January 16, 2016, in Adelaide
BATTING
| Matches | Innings | Not Out | Runs | Highest | Average | 50s | Strike Rate | 6s | |
| Overall | 100 | 77 | 21 | 1492 | 71* | 26.64 | 4 | 140.88 | 78 |
| Performance in wins | 69 | 49 | 17 | 969 | 51 | 30.28 | 2 | 150.46 | 47 |
| As captain | 16 | 15 | 4 | 296 | 30* | 26.89 | 0 | 124.36 | 13 |
| T20 World Cups | 24 | 16 | 4 | 357 | 63 | 29.75 | 2 | 142.23 | 19 |
| Performance in wins (T2o WCs) | 18 | 11 | 4 | 257 | 50* | 36.71 | 1 | 146.02 | 14 |
BOWLING
| Matches | Wickets | Average | Best | 4 wickets in an innings | Strike Rate | Economy Rate | |
| Overall | 100 | 84 | 25.48 | 4/16 | 3 | 18.8 | 8.11 |
| Performances in wins | 69 | 72 | 19.81 | 4/16 | 3 | 15.4 | 7.72 |
| As captain | 16 | 12 | 26.50 | 4/16 | 1 | 20.5 | 7.75 |
| T20 World Cups | 24 | 24 | 21.66 | 3/20 | 0 | 15.2 | 8.52 |
| Performance in wins (T20 WCs) | 18 | 23 | 16.82 | 3/20 | 0 | 12.2 | 8.23 |
A month ago, Rohit Sharma retired from T20Is after his captaincy helped India win another T20 World Cup. The ball was now in BCCI’s court to decide whether Hardik would resume his leadership role or Suryakumar who took over his duty last year due to an injury thereby he would continue leading the side during T20Is.
Hardik had been undergoing treatment for ankle injury which he got during ODI world cup match last year and made comeback only through this year’s IPL tournament. In between, he was replaced by Surya who led India to win a five-match series against Australia.
SURYAKUMAR YADAV
T20I Debut: vs England on March 14, 2021, in Ahmedabad
BATTING
| Matches | Innings | Not out | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s | Strike Rate | 6s | |
| Overall | 68 | 65 | 11 | 2340 | 117 | 43.33 | 4 | 19 | 167.74 | 133 |
| In wins | 51 | 48 | 11 | 1729 | 112* | 46.72 | 3 | 15 | 174.29 | 100 |
| As captain | 7 | 7 | 0 | 300 | 100 | 42.85 | 1 | 2 | 164.83 | 19 |
Accordingly, Different reports indicate that BCCI had planned to name their teams yesterday but there was no agreement as to whether Hardik or Suryakumar will captain the side in T20Is, so the announcement was postponed until another day on which it will now be made on Thursday.
