Suryakumar Yadav India’s next T20 captain?
He is India’s top T20I batter, and proved his mettle as captain during the home series against Australia last year after the ODI World Cup and also during the South Africa tour
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be in two minds whether to appoint Suryakumar Yadav or Hardik Pandya as Rohit Sharma’s successor as the captain of the Indian T20 team.
Rohit announced his retirement from the international T20 format after winning the World Cup in the Caribbeans.
Pandya was the vice-captain of the Indian team at the World Cup and was therefore the frontrunner for the position. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion in the cricket board and the selection committee about appointing him as the captain mainly because of his fitness issues.
Though Pandya has, without a doubt, been India’s top seam-bowling all-rounder and played a major role with both bat and ball in India’s victorious campaign during the recent World Cup, not everyone is on board with making him the permanent T20I captain. During his 8-year-long international career, he has suffered multiple injuries, some of them serious, due to which he has decided to keep away from Test cricket.
SKY better option?
Suryakumar Yadav is now being seen as a better option for the captaincy of the national team. He is India’s top T20I batter, and he proved his mettle as a captain during the home series against Australia last year after the ODI World Cup and also during the tour of South Africa later. The board received feedback that the players like his captaincy style.
It is reported that the new head coach of the Indian team, Gautam Gambhir, will have a major say in deciding on the new captain. Gambhir and Surya had played together when the former was leading the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar will meet Gambhir for their first selection meeting this week, when they will probably make up their minds about whom to choose as India’s next T20I captain.
