u/DankCumLame

So hear me out.

2022-23 — Rohit and Kohli are rested from T20Is. Hardik steps up, leads India brilliantly, and everyone starts seeing him as the future T20 captain. Makes total sense.

Then November 2023 — Hardik gets traded back to Mumbai Indians. Cool, homecoming story. But then MI makes him captain, replacing Rohit Sharma. The same Rohit who led MI for a decade and won 5 IPL titles. Fans lost their minds, Hardik got booed every single game.

MI finished dead last that IPL season.

Then comes T20 World Cup 2024. Hardik is vice-captain. India wins. In the final, he bowls the last over, takes 3 crucial wickets, gets India over the line. Arguably his best moment in an Indian jersey.

Now here's where it gets interesting.

After the World Cup, Rohit retires from T20Is. The obvious successor? Hardik. BCCI brass reportedly wanted him too.

But Rohit pushed for Suryakumar Yadav. SKY himself confirmed this recently.

The official reason given? Hardik's "poor fitness record."

The guy who just bowled the last over of a World Cup final.

Hardik wasn't just denied captaincy — he was removed from the leadership group entirely. No vice-captaincy. Nothing.

I'm not saying it's definitely internal politics. But the timeline is hard to ignore. Rohit lost his MI captaincy because of Hardik. Then Rohit had a say in who gets India's T20 captaincy — and it wasn't Hardik.