Fitness and availability prerequisite for captaincy: Chief selector Ajit Agarkar

“The biggest thing is the captain should be on the park more often than not. I mean, that’s a prerequisite really,” Agarkar said, addressing the media sitting alongside new men’s head coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday. “Hopefully, Surya does that. And so far, there’s never been a concern with his T20 batting anyway. Again, you look at the some of the feedback that you get.”

The BCCI chief selector was referring to feedback from the Indian dressing room on Pandya’s leadership and man-management skills, which wasn’t very encouraging. By handing over reigns to SKY, the selectors were pressing ‘the reset button’ in lead up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

“Like I said, you know (Hardik Pandya’s) fitness is a concern. Not just that, we also feel that Surya has the necessary qualities to be a good captain. Two years is a long time. So at least, it gives us a bit more of a chance to look at some things differently. The main thing is we want guys who are available all the time and, in this way, we also feel that we can manage Hardik a little bit better because he is an important player for us,” he added.

After India’s disappointing end to the 2022 T20 World Cup, Pandya was appointed the T20I captain by the previous Chetan Sharma-led selection committee. He was the favourite to lead India’s campaign in 2024 USA-West Indies, until the all-rounder suffered a freak ankle injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

“Frankly, when Hardik Pandya did get injured, it was a little bit of a challenge at that point. Rohit Sharma was still around, which made life a lot easier…that he could come and lead. We don’t want that situation going forward again,” he said.

While one understands, the selection committee wasn’t unanimous for Pandya not to be made captain; once the decision was made, the Baroda all-rounder wasn’t considered for vice-captaincy. Instead, Shubman Gill is being groomed across formats with the future in mind.

“Shubman is the guy that we feel again, as he is a three-format player firstly and seems to show a lot more qualities over the last year or so. That’s what we hear from the dressing room and that’s why we want to try and have somebody who can also learn from couple of other senior guys like SKY and Rohit Sharma. So, we don’t face the same challenges as suddenly trying to look for a captain in case there are injuries or loss of form,” he explained.

From being the captain-in-waiting to discovering the leadership door being shut for now, Hardik Pandya’s career path continues its roller-coaster ride. A rare world-class pace bowling all-rounder troubled by injuries, the selectors have challenged him to return to peak form and fitness. “I mean, look he’s still a very important player for us. And that’s what we want him to be…those skill sets are hard to find,” added Agarkar.

For now, it’s over to Surya; the T20 powerhouse who made a late dash to international cricket, aged 30 and is now fast making up for lost time. “SKY’s got a good cricketing brain. He’s still one of the best T20 batters in the world. We think he is a deserving candidate, and we’ll see over time how he develops into the (captain’s) role,” the chief selector said.