Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra isn’t surprised that Hardik Pandya was being ignored for the T20I captaincy. Pandya was expected to be handed over the T20I captaincy baton as he was the vice-captain in the T20 World Cup 2024 after Rohit Sharma decided to retire from the shortest format.

However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel backed Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain as Pandya has been troubled by injuries. Nehra noted that Pandya mostly plays the T20I format and he doesn’t even play the 50-over format that much. Pandya has also not been picked for Sri Lanka ODIs for personal reasons.

Ashish Nehra said on Sports Tak, “Ajit Agarkar, Gautam Gambhir said a couple of days ago, if I am not mistaken talked about fitness. He is not playing all formats, I mean, he is playing only one format, he doesn’t even play the 50-over format that much. So it is difficult for Hardik Pandya or any coach or captain. I will just say that the thoughts are different.”

“It’s not surprising that when it comes to cricket, these things happen. It’s a bit surprising that Hardik Pandya, as you said, he was the vice-captain in the World Cup. But at the same time, a new coach has come. A new thought has come. So every coach, each captain has a different thought. So at this time, their thought is on that side.”

Pandya being a seam bowling all-rounder adds balance to the team. Nehra observed that Pandya is invaluable to the team as there is no impact player rule in International cricket.

“Hardik Pandya is a very important player for Indian cricket. Whether he plays twice or not, he is the fourth fast bowler. He brings a different balance because there is no impact player rule,” said Nehra.

Pandya scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57 in the T20I showpiece. The all-rounder also scalped 11 wickets in eight matches at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.61.