Irfan Pathan fires ominous warning to India on Hardik Pandya; 'You'll be in a mess'

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan has fired an ominous warning to India ahead of Hardik Pandya taking charge of the T20I team for their upcoming series against New Zealand. Pathan, while speaking on Star Sports, highlighted some important factors that could come into play if Hardik is made the permanent captain of the Indian T20I side. Pathan stated that Hardik is a fast-bowling all-rounder and is prone to injuries, which could trouble India if something happens to him right before the World Cup. 

Pathan's ominous warning to Team India

Pathan believes that if Hardik is made the captain of the Indian T20I side then there should be another leader ready to take his place in case of an injury otherwise the team will be in mess. Pathan said the BCCI must find not one but two leaders going forward. 

"So, I'm not saying that if you change the captain, you change the result, if you go like that, you're not going to change the result. And with Hardik Pandya, you need to understand, we all need to understand, that he's a fast-bowling all-rounder. He has injury issues as well. What if he is your captain who is getting injured right before the World Cup? And if you don't have any other leader ready, you'll be in a mess," Irfan said on Star Sports.

"So, what I personally think is that Hardik Pandya is a leader, who has done very well in the Gujarat Titians, won IPL, won the championship trophy. You need to find not one, but two leaders going forward to build their mark. You know just like we talk about openers - we need to have a group of openers, we also need to have a group of leaders," he added.

Hardik is all set to lead the Indian T20I team in a three-match series against New Zealand starting November 18. Rishabh Pant has been named the vice-captain of the side in absence of senior players, including Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Hardik has already had a taste of captaining the Indian squad earlier this year when India played Ireland in a two-match T20I series, which the Men in Blue won 2-0.

India vs New Zealand: Full squad and schedule

India’s squad for New Zealand T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC and WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.

Image: Instagram/IrfanPathan/Twitter/HardikPandya