Hardik vs Surya: Who’s the better-performing player as T20I captain
The raging debate over who between Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav should lead India in T20Is has left the Indian cricket corridors abuzz with speculations, as the BCCI and the team’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir get ready to announce the white-ball squads for the tour of Sri Lanka.
While there have been reports of Gambhir in favour of Surya to lead in T20Is and BCCI secretary Jay Shah backing Hardik, let’s take a moment to look at how the two players have fared as players while leading in T20I internationals and also overall while wearing the India jersey in the shortest format.
Here’s a look at the numbers in depth:
HARDIK PANDYA
T2oI Debut: vs Australia on January 16, 2016, in Adelaide
BATTING
| Matches | Innings | Not Out | Runs | Highest | Average | 50s | Strike Rate | 6s | |
| Overall | 100 | 77 | 21 | 1492 | 71* | 26.64 | 4 | 140.88 | 78 |
| Performance in wins | 69 | 49 | 17 | 969 | 51 | 30.28 | 2 | 150.46 | 47 |
| As captain | 16 | 15 | 4 | 296 | 30* | 26.89 | 0 | 124.36 | 13 |
| T20 World Cups | 24 | 16 | 4 | 357 | 63 | 29.75 | 2 | 142.23 | 19 |
| Performance in wins (T2o WCs) | 18 | 11 | 4 | 257 | 50* | 36.71 | 1 | 146.02 | 14 |
BOWLING
| Matches | Wickets | Average | Best | 4 wickets in an innings | Strike Rate | Economy Rate | |
| Overall | 100 | 84 | 25.48 | 4/16 | 3 | 18.8 | 8.11 |
| Performances in wins | 69 | 72 | 19.81 | 4/16 | 3 | 15.4 | 7.72 |
| As captain | 16 | 12 | 26.50 | 4/16 | 1 | 20.5 | 7.75 |
| T20 World Cups | 24 | 24 | 21.66 | 3/20 | 0 | 15.2 | 8.52 |
| Performance in wins (T20 WCs) | 18 | 23 | 16.82 | 3/20 | 0 | 12.2 | 8.23 |
Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is after India won the T20 World Cup under his captaincy last month. That left the BCCI to decide whether to bring Hardik back as skipper in the shortest format or let Suryakumar, who replaced Hardik after his injury last year, to continue to lead the team in T20Is.
Hardik was in rehab after injuring his ankle in the middle of the ODI World Cup last year and returned to competitive cricket only in the IPL earlier this year. In between, Surya led India in the team’s 4-1 T20I series win against Australia.
SURYAKUMAR YADAV
T20I Debut: vs England on March 14, 2021, in Ahmedabad
BATTING
| Matches | Innings | Not out | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s | Strike Rate | 6s | |
| Overall | 68 | 65 | 11 | 2340 | 117 | 43.33 | 4 | 19 | 167.74 | 133 |
| In wins | 51 | 48 | 11 | 1729 | 112* | 46.72 | 3 | 15 | 174.29 | 100 |
| As captain | 7 | 7 | 0 | 300 | 100 | 42.85 | 1 | 2 | 164.83 | 19 |
As per various reports, the BCCI was scheduled to announce the squads on Wednesday but because there was no consensus on whether Hardik or Suryakumar will led the team in T20Is, the announcement was delayed for another day and will reportedly happen on Thursday.
(All Stats courtesy Rajesh Kumar)
