ISLAMABAD, july26: Concerns have been voiced by former Pakistani captain Rashid Latif over the BCCI’s choice of Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as India’s next Twenty20 international captain.
Latif implied that once Rohit Sharma decided to resign as captain after the T20 World Cup, Pandya’s fitness issues were utilized as a justification to keep him from the position.
Pandya has served as Sharma’s deputy during India’s victorious Twenty20 World Cup campaign in the past. To prepare him for future leadership, Shubman Gill was also named the new T20I vice captain, succeeding Pandya.
According to Latif, fitness ought not to have been a criterion for disqualification. He pointed out that even if they weren’t in the best physical shape, many successful leaders have guided their teams.
“With a note on his eligibility, they ought to just present him with a certificate stating that he is unfit. But many great captains have made it even when they weren’t in top physical shape. I thus think that this was only a pretext. In terms of the future, Rishabh Pant would have been the obvious choice for captain if Suryakumar Yadav had not been able to play,” said the former captain of Pakistan.
