The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday, July 18 gave shock waves to the world as they named Suryakumar Yadav, India’s next T20I captain. However, after Rohit Sharma announced retirement from the shortest format post India’s T20 World Cup triumph, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya was the front-runner to take the helm, having served as Rohit’s deputy in the World Cup.
But the Indian cricket board has some other plans as they called in for Suryakumar Yadav, the middle-order batter and India’s top-ranked T20I batter to take the helm. However, soon after his appointment, reports surfaced that it was former India cricketer turned Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir’s decision to appoint SKY as the skipper, but a BCCI source, close to the developments confirmed that Gambhir wasn’t involved in this decision.
The BCCI official also confirmed that Gambhir was a part of an informal call with the BCCI and the selection committee where he put forward his ideas seeing India’s roadmap ahead. It was then revealed that SKY could be looked up to as the next T20I captain. “Although Gambhir did not directly pitch for Surya in the call, he made it amply clear that he would want to work with a captain whose workload does not become a stumbling block. Agarkar was clear with his views,” a BCCI official said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Suryakumar Yadav to begin his T20I captaincy career with Sri Lanka tour
The 33-year-old, who has had a past experience at the top, will take on as a full-time captain in the shortest format of the game with the upcoming Sri Lanka tour. The Men in Blue will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, starting from July 27. Notably, all matches of the T20I series are set to be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele.
India’s T20I squad for Sri Lanka series:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.