Axar Patel has been named as deputy to T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for the T20I series against England. Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik expressed 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.
This comes after the BCCI did not mention Hardik as the designated vice-captain of the team for the forthcoming five-match T20I series against England. Instead, all-rounder Axar Patel has been appointed as deputy to T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. According to Karthik, the move to strip Hardik of the role does not make sense.
At one point, Hardik was ahead in the race to replace Rohit as T20I captain. He had led the team on several occasions whenever Rohit was rested.
He won three out of four T20I series as captain before Suryakumar’s elevation after the T20 World Cup success last year. Meanwhile, India will host England in a five-match series, with the first game at Kolkata on January 22.
The other two matches will occur on January 25 and January 28 in Chennai and Rajkot, respectively. The fourth match for the series will be on 31ary 31 in Pune. Mumbai hosts the final T20I match on February 2.
