File photo of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya© X (formerly Twitter)
Suryakumar Yadav is expected to be appointed Indian cricket team captain for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka ahead of incumbent vice-captain Hardik Pandya, according to a report. Following India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, the trio of captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja retired from the format in international cricket. Shubman Gill was the captain in the T20I series against Zimbabwe but with Gautam Gambhir taking over the head coach ahead of the Sri Lanka series, Suryakumar is being considered to be the captaincy choice.
The report from ESPN Cricinfo stated that although Hardik was being considered to be the choice to replace Rohit as the long-term T20I captain, his fitness concerns and workload management may result in Suryakumar getting the position. Hardik has missed a number of matches in the past year due to injuries.
It is learned that both Gambhir and Agarkar spoke to Pandya about this change of plan earlier this evening and explained to him that a long-term option was being finalised to ensure stability.
The T20 leadership role fell vacant after Rohit Sharma said goodbye to his international career in the shortest format following India’s World Cup triumph last month in the West Indies.
Pandya, one of the heroes of that victory, will take a break during the three-match ODI series against the island nation due to “personal reasons”. The T20Is against Sri Lanka will run from July 27 to 30 in Pallekele, followed by the ODIs from August 2 to 7 in Colombo.
The squad for the series is expected to be announced in the next couple of days.
“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 is a very strong feeling that SKY would be the potential leader not only for the Sri Lanka series but till the 2026 World Cup,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“Hardik’s break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. He doesn’t have any fitness issue as is being suggested in the media,” the official said.
(With PTI inputs)
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