Rashid Latif Believes Pandya’s Fitness Was Used as an Excuse to Not Make Him Captain

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has raised doubts about the BCCI’s decision to appoint Suryakumar Yadav as India’s new T20I captain over Hardik Pandya.

Latif suggested that Pandya‘s fitness concerns were used as an excuse to deny him the role following Rohit Sharma’s decision to step down from captaincy after the T20 World Cup.

However, despite Hardik Pandya’s stellar performances the chief selector Ajit Agarkar cited the player’s fitness issues as the primary reason for choosing Yadav.

Pandya had previously been Sharma’s deputy during India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign. In addition, Shubman Gill was appointed as the new T20I vice-captain, taking over from Pandya, to groom him for future leadership.

Latif argued that fitness should not have been a disqualifying factor. He noted that many successful captains have led their teams despite not being in top physical condition.

“They should simply hand him a certificate declaring him unfit, citing concerns about his fitness. However, many great captains have succeeded despite not being in peak physical condition. Therefore, I believe this was merely an excuse. If Suryakumar Yadav was unavailable, Rishabh Pant would have been the logical choice for captain, as far as the future is concerned.” stated the former Pakistan skipper.

Pandya was crowned top T20I allrounder after his World Cup heroics in the shortest format of the game where he scored 144 runs over a strike rate of 150 and picked up 11 wickets in the tournament for India.