“I don’t know who is seeing him as captain” - Salman Butt reckons talk of Hardik Pandya as India’s new T20I leader is premature

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has stated that the debate over whether Hardik Pandya should take over India’s new T20I captain seems a bit premature. According to him, such questions would not have come to the fore if Rohit Sharma had scored runs during Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.

Pandya has been appointed India’s captain for the three-match T20I series in New Zealand, which begins in Wellington on Friday, November 18. The all-rounder was named leader after Rohit Sharma - along with fellow seniors Virat Kohli and KL Rahul - was rested for the tour.

In the wake of the Men in Blue’s semi-final exit from the T20 World Cup 2022, calls have been growing for Pandya to replace Rohit as T20I captain. Disagreeing with what seems like a popular sentiment in India, Butt said on his YouTube channel:

“I don’t know who is seeing him as captain and who is watching such dreams. He has talent and has tasted success in the IPL. But even Rohit Sharma has been successful five to six times in the IPL. If he had scored well in a couple of matches (in the T20 World Cup 2022), people wouldn’t have been talking about making this change at the top.”

Rohit had a highly disappointing T20 World Cup campaign. He managed only one half-century during the entire tournament and looked out of rhythm during most of his knocks.

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“Only one captain has won the World Cup” - Butt on the chatter around Pandya as Rohit’s replacement

Elaborating on the Pandya vs Rohit debate, Butt opined that in Asian nations, big decisions are taken too drastically and often in a haphazard manner.

He referred to the BCCI’s move to remove Kohli from the ODI captaincy. Butt further pointed out that only one captain lifted the T20 World Cup trophy. The former Pakistan opener said:

“In the Asian subcontinent, people start talking about such drastic and big chances rather soon. Not all of them, but quite a few, who probably don’t understand the leveraging of the sport and how it works. Just for the sake of giving an opinion also people say, change the captain.

“Only one captain has won the World Cup, the rest of the teams have lost. Will you change the captains of all 11 teams because they lost the World Cup?”

Rohit-led Team India made an unceremonious exit from the T20 World Cup 2022, having been hammered by England by 10 wickets in the second semi-final in Adelaide.