‘Hardik Pandya Needs Support Which Rahul Dravid Doesn’t Provide’: Ex-India Star’s Bold Claim | Cricket News

India’s captain for the T20I series against West Indies, Hardik Pandya, has been at the center of criticism after the team lost the first two T20Is. The Indian batting unit has punched quite below its weight, inviting a plethora of reactions from the cricketing spectrum over the nature of ‘experiments’ that are being done. Skipper Hardik’s captaincy decisions and selection of players haven’t been immune to criticism either. For former India cricketer Parthiv Patel, Hardik needs a ‘supportive’ captain like Ashish Nehra (at Gujarat Titans) to deliver, and not Rahul Dravid.

Hardik, as the captain of the Gujarat franchise in the IPL, led his team to the title in the very first attempt (2022 season). The following year, GT finished as runners-up, losing to MS Dhoni‘s Chennai Super Kings in the final. For the cricketing universe, it’s the captain-coach pairing of Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra that has played a pivotal role in the franchise’s early success.

When it comes to the Indian T20 team, Parthiv feels Hardik isn’t getting the sort of support he needs from head coach Dravid.

“There have been a couple of instances about Hardik Pandya’s captaincy which have been glaring mistakes. The first was giving that over to Axar Patel in the first game when Nicholas Pooran had come out to bat. And today, this one (not giving Yuzvendra Chahal his 4th over in the 2nd T20I). Hardik Pandya the captain has been brilliant with GT but at Gujarat Titans he had the support of Ashish Nehra. But is Rahul Dravid the proactive coach or person which we are looking for in the T20 format. I don’t think so. In my mind, we need someone who is proactive. Hardik Pandya has that spark but he needs that support, which to me Rahul Dravid doesn’t provide,” Parthiv said on Cricbuzz after the second T20I.

“See, a T20 format is usually something which changes around in one moment of the game. One decision here and there, which in this case was Hardik Pandya not giving that over to Chahal. He did not finish his quota of 4 overs, so to me, that was something which changed the game in the favour of West Indies,” he further explained.

With India 0-2 down after the first two matches, Hardik’s men have no room for error in the remaining three matches.