"I don't know who is seeing Hardik as captain," says Salman Butt

Salman Butt isn't satisfied with what he's seen from India's all-rounder in terms of leadership abilities

PHOTO: PCB/AP

Indian cricket team begins the post-T20 World Cup 2022 era with a tour of New Zealand led by Hardik Pandya. Though Rohit Sharma remains the chosen captain in all three forms, he has been given a vacation from the series, with Hardik taking over for the tour.

Many former cricketers and experts have backed Hardik to follow Rohit as India's shortest-format captain. On the other hand, former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt isn't satisfied with what he's seen from India's all-rounder in terms of leadership abilities.

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In a video posted to his YouTube account, Butt was questioned regarding Hardik's potential to lead India in the near future. However, the veteran Pakistani cricketer believes Rohit Sharma should not be replaced as India's captain only because he failed to win the 2022 T20 World Cup.

"I don't know who is seeing him as captain and who is watching such dreams. He has talent and has tasted success in the IPL. But even Rohit Sharma has been successful five to six times in the IPL. If he had scored well in a couple of matches (in the T20 World Cup 2022), people wouldn't have been talking about making this change at the top," he said.

"In the Asian subcontinent, people start talking about such drastic and big changes rather soon. Not all of them, but quite a few probably don't understand how these things work. Sometimes, to give an opinion, people say, 'change the captain,'" he added.

Butt said that the World Cup, which features 12 teams, can only be won by one captain, one team. That does not imply that the remaining 11 captains should be replaced.

"Only one captain has won the World Cup; the rest of the teams have lost. Will you change the captains of all 11 teams because they lost the World Cup?" he asserted.

Hardik was to lead the Indian team in the first T20I against New Zealand on Friday in Wellington. But, persistent rain at the venue saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled.