Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg feels all-rounder Hardik Pandya should have captained India in the five-match T20I series against South Africa in the absence of senior cricketers. The Men in Blue currently are down in the series 2-0.
With KL Rahul ruled out on the eve of the series opener, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was appointed as the stop-gap skipper. Hardik Pandya, who recently led Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 title in their maiden season, was appointed as Rishabh’s deputy.
Impressed with Hardik’s antics and growing stature in Indian cricket, Brad Hogg feels the all-rounder is the most valuable T20 cricketer and should have captained India in this series. Speaking in a video on Instagram, Hogg said:
“Hardik Pandya should be captain of this T20 team in front of Rahul. He proved his worth in the IPL. He wants those tough moments when the team’s back is against the wall. He wants to go out there and deliver, whether it’s with a bat or ball.”
“The other night (1st T20I), he came in during those final overs and was able to find the boundary from ball one. Not too many people can do that. And he can go up and do the job at the top of the order if they lose early wickets as well. He is the most valuable T20 cricketer going around in world cricket right now,” Hogg added.
Hardik Pandya had a superlative comeback to international cricket when he played a quickfire knock in the first T20I. However, he failed to get going in the second game and was knocked over by Wayne Parnell.
India go 0-2 down in the five-match series
Batting first, the Men in Blue could only muster 148 runs, thanks to Dinesh Karthik‘s late blitz. He scored an unbeaten 30 off 21 balls, including two boundaries and as many sixes to post a challenging total on the board.
In reply, Heinrich Klaasen played a match-winning 81 to help South Africa scale down the total. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets with the new ball to reduce the Proteas to 29/3 but Klaasen took the attack to the opposition to go over the line with 10 balls to spare.
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