Hardik Pandya discharged of vice-captaincy ahead of his upcoming tour to Sri Lanka with Rahul and Rohit
The national selectors have gone for continuity by appointing Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain, while Shubman Gill will be the vice-captain in both T20Is and ODIs during the white-ball series against Sri Lanka later this month. Hardik Pandya has lost his vice-captaincy role in both formats.
In addition, the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar has maintained their stance of having a settled leadership for these limited-overs sides. On 17th July, it was reported that Agarkar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir had told Hardik about their thoughts regarding his becoming a full-time T20I captain. The BCCI thus intends to gauge Surya’s performance over next year before reviewing her appointment ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
“The selectors and Gambhir have been very clear with what they want to do. They felt that Hardik who is prone to injuries should not be given too many responsibilities. Gambhir believes that Surya has got an excellent sense of game,” a source informed Parami News.
Moreover, it was also felt that players like Kohli Rohit Bumrah needed more exposure within the team set-up since ICC Champions Trophy is only six months away. However, he will not feature in any games due to workload management while Kuldeep Yadav too did not make it into the squad announced for T20s. “There are going to be very few ODIs remaining before Gambhir departs for ICC Champions Trophy in Feb next year so he wants someone consistent,” added the individual.
GILL IN BOTH FORMATS
By making Gill as vice-captain in all formats over Rahul & Hardik shows that Indians may have identified one young player who can take over captaincy from Rohit in future. Rahul’s episodes as captain for India and Lucknow Super Giants IPL team has not been good.
The management has a view that planning for the 2026 ODI World Cup should begin now so that transition can be done earlier. Sources have also confirmed to Parami News that Rishabh Pant is being groomed by the selectors into an expanding leadership group across formats.
JADEJA MISSING FROM ODIS
Surprisingly, Ravindra Jadeja who retired following the T20 World Cup unlike Kohli and Rohit did not find his name on the ODI squad-list. There is no official information explaining why he was left out but insiders claim the selectors believe it is time to start looking beyond him.
For a while now, Jadeja’s batting in white ball cricket hasn’t really set tongues wagging around and with Axar Patel emerging as a strong contender, Washington Sundar has therefore got selected in both squads.
PARAG IN BOTH TEAMS, NO PLACE FOR ABHISHEK
Riyan Parag finds himself named in both teams which means Abhishek Sharma failed to make the cut here. According to Parami News sources, Parag may develop into a match-winning batter.
This month, Parag had his debut in T20Is in Zimbabwe but couldn’t make any impression. Nevertheless, the splendid Vijay Hazare Trophy show and the following IPL stint were not to be shrugged off.
SHREYAS IYER BACK
This year alone, Shreyas Iyer lost his central contract for not appearing in a single domestic game but with no time he has found himself back in contention. Indeed, Iyer also has been a consistent scorer of runs in ODIs over the years Sri Lanka.
However, BCCI secretary Jay Shah made it clear in his media statement on Wednesday that there was a condition: “The BCCI shall continue to oversee player availability and participation during 2024-25 domestic cricket season.”
