According to the reports, Suryakumar Yadav has been chosen as India’s T20I captain by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) following Rohit Sharma after players trusted him more than allrounder Hardik Pandya who had captained the side in T20Is before he was injured last year.
This decision was made known on Thursday evening while selectors announced the squads for India’s forth coming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka starting on July 27. Aged 33, Suryakumar will lead a 15-man squad announced for three T20 Internationals to be played at Pallekele. But he is not part of the subsequent series of three ODIs.
Rohit, with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, retired from T20 internationals after India won World Cup last month. He will continue to captain ODI team that is scheduled to play against Sri Lanka on August 2, 4, and 7 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
However, despite being Rohit’s deputy during the T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya, who is just 30 years old and five years senior to this promising all-rounder in his international debut was preferred as captain ahead of him. Also Hardik was not considered for T20I vice-captaincy which went to opener Shubman Gill who led a young squad on Zimbabwe tour.
Players’ trust on Surya surpassed that of Pandya according to one report from Parami News and they also felt much more comfortable under him.
During last year’s ODI World Cup played in India, it did not favor him when suffering from recurring ankle injury problems like ones that put his name down then.
Meanwhile according to sources Gautam Gambhir as new coach did not want an injured skipper and took into account Suryakumar’s knowledge of the game.
Suryakumar is a game changer in T20 cricket. He was 30 when he made his India debut but immediately became the team’s dependably middle-order batter in this format.
This includes his well-known lap shot behind stumps has also been making him nightmare for bowlers, being referred to as 360 degree player because he can hit all over the ground.
In the recent T20 World Cup final against South Africa at Barbados, Suryakumar took an amazing catch at boundary line; this was during tense last over bowled by Pandya that ended with India winning through a nail-biter.
In domestic cricket, Suryakumar captained Mumbai and later led India to a T20I series victory of 4-1 against Australia last year and then tied it with 1-1 on trip to South Africa.
Pandya had a very successful World Cup campaign with both bat and ball but it has been tough journey especially after replacing Rohit as captain of Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League (IPL).
Rohit fans so much hated him that booed him at different grounds while Mumbai finished last among ten teams in IPL 2024 standings table.
On Thursday, Natasa Stankovic, Serbian model and wife of Pandya announced her separation from the Indian all-rounder who has personal troubles. The couple got married for four years and will co-parent their son.
