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India vs England, T20I series: Coach Gautam Gambhir and Hardik Pandya in 30-minute chat amid vice-captaincy rumors

India vs England, T20I series: Coach Gautam Gambhir and Hardik Pandya in 30-minute chat amid vice-captaincy rumors

India head coach Gautam Gambhir and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were seen in an intense conversation for over 30 minutes during India’s first training session ahead of the T20I series against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday 19 of January. Gambhir and Hardik were away from the nets, standing at the other end of the iconic venue, having a long discussion.

Team India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, began its three-day training camp on Sunday in preparation for the five-match T20I series, starting on January 22.

Gambhir’s conversation with Hardik comes after reports suggesting that the head coach had advocated for Hardik Pandya to be named vice-captain of the Indian team. Champions Trophy squad, which was announced on Saturday in Bombay. Instead, Shubman Gill was named vice-captain of the ODI team, which included Hardik as the only fast bowling all-rounder. The selection meeting, which began at 12:00 pm IST on Saturday, was extended until 3:30 pm IST, leading to speculation among experts about possible disagreements between the selectors and the team management.

Interestingly, Hardik Pandya had been in line to take over as India’s T20I captain after last year’s World Cup. However, the selectors opted to name Suryakumar Yadav as captain in the shortest format of the game. Axar Patel has been named vice-captain for the upcoming five-match T20I series, starting on January 22 in Kolkata.

Coach Gambhir also took time to speak to Sanju Samson, days after the wicketkeeper-batsman was excluded from the Champions Trophy squad. Samson, who is training with the team, is the first-choice wicketkeeper for the T20I series. Newly appointed batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was also seen supervising the batting training.

Additionally, Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar spoke to Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee about the playing surface. Mukherjee shared that the pitch is expected to favor high-scoring matches, although some green areas were also seen.

During Monday’s training session, all eyes were on Mohammed Shami as the senior fast bowler, with a badly damaged left knee, launched at full intensity on the networks. Shami has recovered from a knee inflammation that had kept him out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This marks Shami’s return to the senior team for the first time since Gambhir took over as head coach in July last year. The pacer had been sidelined from international cricket for over a year due to a heel injury that required surgery.

One notable absence from Sunday’s training session was Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm pacer, who is also part of the Champions Trophy squad, is expected to join the training camp on Monday.

Posted by:

Akshay Ramesh

Posted in:

January 20, 2025