India vs Sri Lanka: Plenty at stake for India's new-look side as Gautam Gambhir era begins

For the first time since Rohit Sharma’s international debut in 2007, India go into a series aware that his absence, along with that of Virat Kohli, isn’t temporary. The two stalwarts haven’t been rested for the three-match Twenty20 Internationals against Sri Lanka, they haven’t been given a break to recharge their batteries, they aren’t recuperating from injuries. They have retired from T20Is, just like Ravindra Jadeja. It’s a reality Indian cricket must come to terms with as it seeks to build on the gains of lifting the T20 World Cup last month.

Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja will at least play for the country in the other two formats. Rahul Dravid, however, isn’t around to guide the team’s fortunes in any of the three versions, having rounded off his international coaching stint with the ultimate prize in 20-over cricket.

Transitional phase

The cold facts are that Suryakumar Yadav has replaced Rohit as the T20I captain, and that Gautam Gambhir has been appointed head coach for a three-and-a-half-year tenure that takes him through to the end of 2027. Suryakumar’s brief is to assemble and nurture a team that can successfully defend the T20 World Cup title at home in 2026.

Gambhir’s is a larger, more encompassing responsibility – to ensure India remain vibrant and buoyant across formats, that more silverware is added to the cabinet, that an inevitable period of transition in 50-over and Test cricket too is handled seamlessly and without a dip in intensity or performance.

To say that Suryakumar will be under trial during the three-match series, or Gambhir during this snappy white-ball tour that also includes three ODIs, will be a gross exaggeration. While it is true that how they shape up will be scrutinised with interest, their future doesn’t depend on the results of the next ten days. Neither Suryakumar nor Gambhir was the obvious heir apparent to Rohit and Dravid respectively; now that they are here, they must be given time to showcase their immense abilities in leadership roles.

Suryakumar has matured

Suryakumar is no stranger to captaincy, having led Mumbai as far back as during the 2014-15 season. It wasn’t a pleasant stint; the right-handed batter stepped down midway through the campaign after a series of poor results culminating in a heavy Ranji Trophy loss to Tamil Nadu. He was reprimanded for using abusive language both on the field and in the dressing room, and a spat with Shardul Thakur added to his woes.

By his own admission, Suryakumar has travelled a long way since then.

“It’s been a decade now, I have changed as a person, I have matured,” he said on Friday (July 26), choosing to address the controversy head-on.

He also implied that he is far better at man-management now than when 24. Today, he is one of the most popular figures in the dressing room and, at No. 2 in the ICC rankings, one of the top batters in the 20-over game.

Pandya will focus on his performance

Hardik Pandya was widely expected to step into the Rohit-sized breach at the helm of the T20I affairs, but a combination of factors – his constant flirtations with fitness issues and the need to manage his workload, given that he is an all-rounder who bowls medium-pace, a rarity in Indian cricket – worked against him. If Pandya nurses any grouses, they haven’t become public.

During the practice sessions in Pallekele, where the T20Is will be staged between Saturday and Tuesday, the Vadodara all-rounder has been characteristically bubbly, pulling a leg here, engaging in banter there. Clearly, he has come to terms with the decision at least outwardly; he has too much pride in performance to allow this setback to his leadership aspirations to tie him down, though it won’t be out of place for him to nurture great disappointment.

Potential of Gill-Jaiswal opening pair

Suryakumar has led India in seven T20Is previously with a 5-2 record which he will try to improve further. One of the early headaches for him and Gambhir could have been to assemble an opening pair as accomplished as Rohit and Kohli; fortunately for them, the management duo doesn’t have to look past Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Gill is the country’s vice-captain in both white-ball versions, an acknowledgement of his batting skills and the fact that he is being groomed for a long-term leadership role. He cast aside the disappointment of not making the T20 World Cup squad by leading India to a 4-1 win in Zimbabwe in a T20I series earlier this month. He will take heart from the fact that the opener’s slot could be his for many years to come if he measures up. He is only 24, has international hundreds in each of the three variants, and is clearly both the present and the future of Indian batting.

The left-handed Jaiswal too already has a T20I century. The two young guns – Gill is 24, Jaiswal is 22 – showed great chemistry in Zimbabwe where they followed up a stand of 67 with an unseparated 156. They might not be Rohit and Kohli, yet, but in time to come, if they continue to progress along expected lines, they have the potential to blossom into one of the most feared opening combines in the game.

Problem of plenty in middle order

India have a burgeoning problem of plenty in the middle-order, with Rinku Singh, Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar all in the mix for four slots, at best. That there are four all-rounders in this octet will be particularly heartening for Gambhir, who will also have one eye on the 50-over Champions Trophy coming up next February. India have only six ODIs between now and then, including three next week in Colombo.

While the nucleus of the 50-over squad is easily identifiable, the X-Factors that can influence outcomes with individual brilliance will occupy Gambhir’s mind space. Suryakumar identified Parag as one of those X-Factors; whether the Assam lad, picked in the ODI squad for the first time, lives up to that lofty billing remains to be seen.

Sri Lanka face a formidable challenge

Sri Lanka too have a new T20I captain in Charith Asalanka, the soft-spoken left-hander who led the Under-19 side at the 2018 World Cup. With Chris Silverwood’s tenure as coach ending after the World Cup, Sanath Jayasuriya, the chief consultant to Sri Lanka Cricket, is occupying that position in an interim capacity. They will bank on their familiarity with the conditions but will acknowledge that even without Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja, and the rested Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, India are formidable. Massively so.