The India vs Sri Lanka T20I and ODI series, which starts later this month, will begin a new chapter for Indian cricket. Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, the side will embark on a mission to add to more laurels. The sides picked bear interesting looks with the biggest change being the T20I captaincy. After Rohit Sharma retired from the format after the T20 World Cup 2024 win, it was thought that designated vice-captain Hardik Pandya would be promoted as the skipper.
Instead, Suryakumar has been named the captain while Pandya is not even the vice-captain. While Pandya’s fitness issues has largely been seen as the reason behind the captaincy snub, a report in Indian Express has claimed that the scales got tilted in Yadav’s favour because of players’ trust.
The report claimed that the ‘feedback’ that BCCI received was that players ‘trusted Yadav more than Pandya’ and were comfortable working under him. The selection meeting that went on for several hours over two days was unlike any other meeting, claimed the report, as there were heated debates and difference of opinions. There were calls being made to players, who were made to understand the management’s long-term plans.
The report further claimed that Yadav’s man-management skills impressed BCCI selectors. When Ishan Kishan was about to leave the India camp midway through the South Africa tour last year, it is said that Yadav tried to convince him to stay back.
He is also reported to have talked to the fringe players in making the most of the opportunities. Another school of thought is that, Yadav’s communication style is like Rohit and the players are comfortable in having discussions with him.
That was another reason behind Yadav getting the nod for captaincy ahead of Pandya.
It is understood that Pandya, the vice-captain of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, who bowled the historic last over in the final against South Africa, was intimated about the decision on Tuesday by both Agarkar and Gambhir about the hard call.
Pandya was also the vice-captain in the 50-over World Cup last year before his injury. With Shubman Gill being appointed deputy in both formats, it is now clear that the selection committee and Gambhir, are keen to look beyond Pandya as a leadership option.
What worked against Pandya was his frequent injury breakdowns. He played only 46 out of the 79 T20I games from Jan 1, 2022. In this period, Suryakumar missed only a few games and that too due to sports hernia surgery.
He led India to a 4-1 win over Australia in a T20I series last November and followed it up with a 1-1 draw in South Africa.
With PTI inputs
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