Reports indicate that star batter Suryakumar Yadav is the front-runner as Senior Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya will not be the captain in the upcoming T20I series in Sri Lanka. In Rohit Sharma’s recent T20 World Cup victory, Pandya, who is 30 served as the vice-captain. He played a vital role with both bat and ball, notably bowling the last over in the final against South Africa.
According to ESPN Crickinfo, Suryakumar is about to be made the captain for the T20I season of three games, following concerns about Pandya’s ability in fitness as well as work-load management which have been the determinants of this decision. Rohit, along with Virat Kohli and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, retired from T20Is after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup.
First of all, Hardik Pandya’s selection of 3 One Day Internationals as skipper and 16 Twenties, is applaudable as it is rare for someone with so little experience at organizing teams or planning tournaments. The special moment in his professional life so far was when he led Gujarat Titans to win the Indian Premier League 2022 during its maiden year and they just fell short a year later.
SURYAKUMAR YADAV SET TO LEAD INDIA IN SRI LANKA T20I SERIES AHEAD OF HARDIK PANDYA…!!!
– Indian team will be announced tomorrow. [Espn Cricinfo] pic.twitter.com/uxuxy384LM
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 16, 2024
Trying to stop a ball in his follow-through during the ODI World Cup at home last year led to an ankle injury of a 30-year-old player. He returned in IPL 2024 to captain his team, Mumbai Indians, but faced challenges. However, he bounced back with an impressive performance at T20 World Cup held in West Indies and United States.
Suryakumar’s experience as captain for India in T20Is
Last November, at home, Suryakumar led India to a 4-1 series victory against a depleted Australian side just after they beat India in the 2023 ODI World Cup final at Narendra Modi Stadium where they won by six wickets.
The Men in Blue drew the T20I series against South Africa 1-1 under the guidance of a 33-year-old captain. The right-handed batsman who has scored 2,340 runs off 65 innings at T20I level has four hundreds and 19 fifties recorded including 167.74 as his strike rate.
Reactions & celebrations! 👏 🏆
That's a Wrap from Zimbabwe! 👍 #TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/ZjrUw2Hns2
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 15, 2024
The first assignment for new head coach Gautam Gambhir who has been appointed to replace Rahul Dravid will involve a visit to Sri Lanka. On their tour of Zimbabwe led by Shubman Gill the young Indian side which was under the stewardship of VVS Laxman had a 4-1 series win there just recently.
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