The premier Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has opened up on his experience of captaining the Indian national team. For the unversed, Pandya made his Indian captaincy debut in 2022 in a T20I against Ireland in Dublin.
Later, the all-rounder went on to captain the Indian team in ODIs against Australia in 2023. In an exclusive conversation with SGTV, the star all-rounder has clarified that he never played for the captaincy tag.
“When it comes to leadership, I never doubted myself. I don’t play for roles or say in my name. It was always about knowing that I am a leader, knowing that I have the power and presence in any team that I play, where all 11 will follow me if I ask them. I always believed that you don’t need to be a captain to be a leader. You can be a leader as a player as well,” Hardik Pandya said during a conversation on SGTV.
It’s important to note that Hardik Pandya has captained Team India in 19 games. In 16 T20Is, he has accumulated 10 victories, five losses and a no-result fixture. On the other hand, in three ODIs, he has two wins and a loss.
“Very fortunate and grateful. I never played for that. But it’s a dream of everyone who starts the journey to just play for India, but captaining is another honour. But that feeling was only for five minutes. After that, it was about thinking what we can do better. I loved the moment for five minutes and cherished it. I don’t keep all these things too close, as it can go anytime,” he added.
Hardik is currently nursing a low-grade quadricep strain and leg sprain and has been out of cricketing action since June 2026.
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