BCCI Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India skipper Rohit Sharma were reportedly not in a favour having star all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, slated to take place in the West Indies and the USA on June 1st.
The BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the prestigious event. Despite the reports suggested that Hardik Pandya's place in the squad would be doubtful as he hasn't been bowling regularly in the ongoing IPL 2024, the Mumbai Indians skipper was included in the squad that fly to the USA and Caribbean for the T20 World Cup.
Pandya's inclusion in the squad raised several questions as he hasn't been performing consistently in the IPL 2024 as he has scored just 200 and picked 11 in 12 matches. Also, a slew of injuries in recent times has led to many questions whether is he completely to fit to play at the international level.
Hardik Pandya picked in the squad under pressure
As per the report by Dainik Jagran, Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma didn't want Hardik Pandya in the squad for the T20 World Cup, but he was picked due to 'pressure'. The report didn't mention under what pressure Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma had to pick the Mumbai Indians skipper.
However, the report further suggested that BCCI is looking at Hardik Pandy as a future T20I captain as Rohit Sharma will be retiring from the format after the T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma was announced as India captain for the T20 World Cup 2024 by the BCCI secretary Jay Shah during the renaming ceremony of Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium to Niranjan Shah Stadium ahead of the third Test between India and England in Rajkot.
The announcement put end to an speculations about who will be leading India in the T20 World Cup 2024. In the absence of Rohit Sharma after India's semifinal defeat to England at the T20 World Cup 2022, Hardik Pandya led the Men in Blue in T20Is.
Not all well between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
The report by Dainik Jagran stated that nothing is going well between former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and his successor Hardik Pandya in the ongoing IPL season.
Hardik Pandya has been subjected to boos and jeers from the crowd after he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of the IPL 2024. The MI's management decision to appoint the all-rounder as a captain faced a severe backlash from the fans as many questioned the morale behind sacking Rohit Sharma, who led the team to five IPL titles.
It has been reported that the situation in the MI camp got worse after the video of the unfiltered chat between Rohit Sharma and KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar went viral on social media. In the video, Rohit said that the things are changing in Mumbai Indians while revealing that it's his last IPL season with five-time champions. The video was shared by KKR but deleted later.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians were the first team to get knocked out of the IPL 2024. The five-time IPL champions are currently at the ninth spot with four wins in their 13 outings and accumulated just 8 points.
