Indian team is going through a transition period and this transition has forced team management to take some really tough calls. Changes in playing 11s, changes in the batting order, and most importantly changes in the captaincy roles are the main highlights of this period. In this post, we will analyze the captaincy role and stats to determine who could be the better white-ball captain of India- Hardik or Bumrah.
This transition is the reason why we didn’t see the full-strength Team India in action in recent times. After the T20I World Cup 2022, we saw a second or third-string team touring overseas and playing at home.
In the past couple of months, there have been plenty of captaincy rotations. Previously, the captaincy of the Indian team was handed over to Shikhar Dhawan whenever the regular skipper was given a rest. Now, suddenly he is nowhere in the selection scenario.
Hardik Pandya as Captain has been the preferable choice for Indian team management for quite some time in T20I formate. He has brilliant IPL stats as captain and also started his national team captaincy with a banger on the spot. But his last few numbers and decisions went south and all of a sudden, his captaincy is under the target.
Hardik Pandya led the Indian side in the recently concluded T20I series against West Indies and it was such a horrible time for him as captain. And just after that series, India were scheduled to tour Ireland for 3-match T20I series, and on his comeback, Jaspret Bumrah was handed the command of the team.
Jasprit Bumrah announced his return to international cricket with brilliant spells, bagging 2/24 in the 1st T20I and 2/15 and most importantly winning both matches and sealing the T20I series as a captain.
Down below are stats of team performance when Hardik and Bumrah captained the team:
Hardik Pandya as Captain:
| Format | Matches (As Captain) | Won | Lost | Draw | Tie | NR | Win % |
| ODI | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| T20I | 16 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62.50 |
| IPL | 31 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70.97 |
Jaspret Bumrah as Captain:
| Format | Matches (as Captain) | Won | Lost | Draw | Tie | NR | Win% |
| Test | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00.00% |
| ODI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| T20I | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| IPL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The distinction may be easily seen. Pandya led the Indian T20 squad successfully; they went more than a year without losing until being defeated by the West Indies in a recent five-match T20I series.
When he captained the Gujarat Titans to victory in the 2022 IPL, Hardik Pandya gained a lot of praise for his leadership. As a result, beginning with the 2022 Ireland visit, he was appointed captain of the Indian T20I team. This occurred as a result of the regular captain, Rohit Sharma, being unable to participate in the 20-over games following the T20 World Cup in 2022.
Pandya’s record as India’s captain in the T20I format has been rather strong, despite the fact that India lost the T20I series against the West Indies. Even though he hasn’t been named the team’s T20I captain officially, he has presided over a lot of victories since the T20 World Cup last year. Pandya led overseas series victories over Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and both at home and away.
India should be comfortable accepting whatever Bumrah does with the ball on his own at this stage. They will be eager to welcome him back into the ODI fold with open arms considering that not many players provide the quality and class with the ball as he does, having missed his services for a long time now.
The Men in Blue need their bowling spearhead to be in the finest position possible to deliver 10 excellent overs every game since the Asia Cup and the World Cup are significant competitions that India does not want to lose in. So at this stage, he should not be burdened with additional captaincy responsibilities.
Hence, Hardik Pandya is a better option as captain in the white ball format for the near future.
READ: Asia Cup 2023 All Team Squads, Points Table, Full Schedule, Live Streaming
For more details head to BCCI’s official website.
