‘If you make someone captain…’ – Kapil Dev cautions selectors on Hardik Pandya’s stint as captain

India are facing off against New Zealand in a three-match ODI series and the Men in Blue won the initial contest which was played on January 18, Wednesday, with Shubman Gill top-scoring for the Indian team with 208, while Michael Bracewell’s 140 brought the Kiwis closer to the target of 350, but failed to reach it as they succumbed for 337. 

After the conclusion of the ODI series, team India would face the Kiwis for a three-match T20Is, to be led by allrounder Hardik Pandya. For the unversed, veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were sidelined from the squad for the T20Is and the selectors, most probably and in all likelihood, might be hinting at a possible move on. 

Former team India captain Kapil Dev, taking cognizance of Pandya being considered as the potential future captain, said that the selectors must overlook any errors, if any, committed by the allrounder. Further, the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper said that the right-handed batter must be backed if he is being looked at as the long-term option for captaincy in white-ball cricket. 

You don’t go series-by-series: Kapil Dev

The 64-year-old said that one must be aware of his skills and not decide about tasking him with leading the side, series after series. As far as Pandya’s captaincy is concerned, the allrounder led the Gujarat franchise to glory in the Indian T20 League 2022 and led the Indian team to victory against Ireland, Black Caps and Sri Lanka. 

“I think one shouldn’t look at the world. You look at your team and your way of thinking. If Hardik Pandya is there, they should not say if you lose one series, we will remove you. If you make someone a captain, you have to give him a fairly long rope to make sure he will start performing. He will make mistakes but they key is that you don’t see the error but focus on whether he is ready for taking the team and look for the future. You don’t go series-by-series,” Kapil was quoted as saying to Gulf News.