Suryakumar Yadav has emerged as a surprising contender to be India's T20 captain, throwing his hat into the ring for 2026 World Cup possibly even leapfrogging Hardik Pandya who till now was seen as an obvious heir apparent for the vice-captaincy.
While Pandya made himself available for the upcoming T20s against Sri Lanka, local media reports claimed the new head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar are favouring Suryakumar, who had led India in eight T20Is against Australia and South Africa last year.
It is learnt that Gambhir and Agarkar met Pandya this morning and presented their revised strategy, stressing on the importance of finding a long-term solution to bring in team stability. The T20 captaincy vacancy arose when Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from international T20 cricket after India's World Cup win in West Indies last month.
Pandya, one of the main men behind that victory, has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka due to "personal reasons." The T20 series is going to take place from July 27 to 30 at Pallekele; theODIs, which will start from August 2 and go on till August 7, shall be held in the city of Colombo. A squad for these games will be announced soon.
Hardik Pandya was India's T20 vice-captain under Rohit Sharma. He is completely fit and available for the three-match T20I series and was supposed to lead the side, but there's a very strong feeling that SKY would be the potential leader not only for the Sri Lanka series but until the 2026 World Cup," said a senior BCCI source, who wished to remain anonymous. He added, "Hardik's break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. He doesn't have any fitness issue as is being suggested in the media."
At 33, Suryakumar is one of the hottest properties within the Indian team. He emerged first as a T20 player under Gambhir's captaincy at Kolkata Knight Riders, where he got the 'SKY' moniker.
While Hardik was looked upon as the obvious heir to Rohit, several factors have contributed to this decision. His record as captain of Mumbai Indians has been less than impressive, and selectors are not inclined to allow him to dictate his participation in series. They would prefer to see him compete in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season for some 50-over match practice.
Now, as far as the ODIs are concerned, it is confirmed that Pandya asked for leave and requested Rohit - who is also not playing this series - in advance. Both KL Rahul, who led in the last series in South Africa, and Shubman Gill are in contention to be captain for the ODIs.
High-light Domestic Availability
But BCCI secretary Jay Shah has made it clear that even the biggest cricketers have to make themselves available for domestic events when they are not representing the country. Exceptions, will, however be made for players like Rohit, Virat Kohli and leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Ideally, the BCCI would want other Test specialists to turn out in at least one or two Duleep Trophy matches in August as a run-up to the Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand. "This time, there is no zonal selection committee for the Duleep Trophy. Only the national selection committee will picked the teams. All contenders for the Test team will be picked. For Rohit, Virat and Bumrah, it will be their call if they want to play," revealed a source.
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