Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed the reason behind naming Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20I captain of the Indian side says “he is the deserving candidate to be captain”.
Right after Rohit Sharma announced T20I retirement post winning the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024, BCCI promoted 33-year-old middle-order batter to fill the vacant spot.
Though BCCI had multiple options to choose from, the selectors and newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir preferred Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20I captain.
BCCI’s decision to choose Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya stirred a controversy of ‘internal politics‘ inside the board. Suryakumar Yadav’s cricket history is considerably small when compared to Hardik Pandya’s in terms of international formats.
Surya made his India debut in 2021 while Hardik made his debut for India in 2016. With a career gap of nearly five years, Suryakumar’s succession over Hardik in terms of captaincy in short format questions the transparency of the BCCI.
But Ajit Agarkar made it clear by explaining the reason behind selecting Suryakumar over Hardik as the new T20I captain of the Indian cricket team.
“Hardik is a very important player, his skill set is rare but fitness is clearly one challenge and we want someone to be likely available all the time. Suryakumar Yadav is the Deserving player to be captain of India. He’s the best T20I batter in the World. He’s a deserving candidate to be captain”, Ajit Agarkar said in a press conference ahead of the Sri Lanka tour.
As per the Indian Cricket Team Fixtures, the Men’s Indian cricket team will tour Sri Lanka to play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs between July 27 and August 07.
