Hardik Pandya meets Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of Sri Lanka series

India T20I skipper Hardik Pandya met Home Minister Amit Shah before Sri Lanka’s tour to India 2023, starting on January 3. His brother and out-of-favour India all-rounder Krunal Pandya also accompanied him for the invitational meet. 

In the pictures, Hardik was seen greeting Amit Shah along with his brother. All three of them were also seen engaging in a conversation. Even though the details of the conversation are yet to be revealed, the Indian cricketer thanked the Home Minister for inviting him and spending invaluable time with him.

“Thank you for inviting us to spend invaluable time with you Honourable Home Minister Shri @amitshahofficial Ji. It was an honour and privilege to meet you,” Hardik posted on his Instagram handle.

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A post shared by Hardik Himanshu Pandya (@hardikpandya93)

Hardik Pandya in contention to become India’s next T20I captain

After successfully winning the T20I series against Ireland and New Zealand, the 29-year-old is one of the favourites to replace Rohit Sharma as the skipper of the T20I format. After proving his captaincy skill for Gujarat Titans in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was very impressed and considers him one of the leaders of the dressing room.

It is because of which, the board also named him the skipper of the upcoming Sri Lanka series. As per initial reports, it is believed that the team management will back a younger squad in the shortest format of the game from now on and seniors will only be seen playing in ODI and Test cricket. 

Interestingly, the Choryasi-born cricketer also replaced KL Rahul as the vice-captain of the side in the ODI format. If he manages to keep up at the same pace, Hardik can eventually replace Rohit Sharma and become India’s next skipper for the 50-over format.

India's T20I squad vs Sri Lanka - Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.