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All is well between the new T20I captain of Team India Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.
Not like there were any doubts but after what transpired in the last few days leading to Surya being elevated as India's new T20I skipper eclipsing Hardik, the vice-captain of India's T20 World Cup-winning team, there was the odd cynical eye looking for something to drive social media traffic.
Hardik made sure there was none.
In their first meeting after the selectors' move to chalk out a roadmap for India's T20Is side in the post-Rohit, Kohli era, keeping Suryakumar at the forefront, Hardik and the newly appointed T20I skipper were like brothers in arms.
In a video shared by BCCI late on Monday (July 22) on Monday night, Hardik was seen sharing a warm hug with Suryakumar at the Mumbai airport before they departed for Colombo. The members of India's T20 squad assembled at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Monday afternoon to leave for a three-match series that starts on July 27.
Hardik and Surya are also teammates in IPL. They represent the Mumbai Indians.
Hardik was perceived as the top contender to take over the T20I reins after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the shortest format after the World Cup triumph. The all-rounder was, in fact, India's unofficial T20I captain for almost a year between December 2022 and October 2023 but things changed after he suffered an ankle injury during the group stages of the ODI World Cup last year.
New coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar wanted a captain who would be available for all T20I matches going ahead. They were not that confident that Hardik was that man, considering his poor history of injuries.