‘Don’t see any reason…’: Ex-India star gives BLUNT take on Hardik Pandya getting stripped off vice-captaincy

Karthik questions why Pandya got stripped off vice-captaincy

Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has expressed his surprise over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s decision to strip Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain of the T20I team.

During a press-conference on Sunday where chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced India’s squads for the ICC Champions Trophy and the 5-match T20I series against England. Instead of announcing Pandya as the vice-captain for England series, Axar Patel was named as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy.

“I really don’t know. I don’t know why he (Hardik) was stripped of his vice-captaincy. I don’t see any reason to (strip Pandya of the vice-captaincy). (India) have done well. They have won in the bilaterals that he was the vice-captain. Not a clue,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

At one point, Hardik was leading the race to replace Rohit as captain of the T20I team. He even led the team on multiple occasions whenever Rohit Sharma was rested. Pandya led the team in a total of 4 T20I series, winning three out of them before Suryakumar’s elevation following the T20 World Cup triumph.

India T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (VC), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK).