Suryakumar Yadav will become India’s new T20I captain and not Hardik Pandya

Pandya had always been the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team under Sharma.

Suryakumar Yadav will become India’s new T20I captain and not Hardik Pandya

Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (Via Imago)

There has been a big turn of events in Indian cricket as per some reports from ESPNCricinfo. The report stated that BCCI is set to handover the T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and not Hardik Pandya.

Pandya was the designated vice-captain of the T20I team under Rohit Sharma. Yadav will replace Sharma, who has retired from T20Is with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after India won the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados.

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Pandya had always been the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team under Sharma. When Sharma was absent from the team he led India in the shortest format of the game and also in some games in ODIs. Moreover, he has led Gujarat Titans in two seasons of the IPL and led them to the title in the first season and to the final in the second season. He was also appointed as the captain of Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024.

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Hardik Pandya’s fitness is a concern and hence Gautam Gambhir wants Suryakumar Yadav to lead the T20I side

Pandya had suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup 2023 at home and was ruled out of the whole tournament. He took a longer period of time to rehab to make his comeback in the IPL. Moreover, he has suffered with back injury for a long time which disabled him from bowling in that period.

Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav (Via Imago)

Pandya’s workload is managed seriously as he was rested in some series. The selectors and Gambhir want a captain who can feature in all the T20I series so that there is no chopping and changing.

Yadav led the team to a series win against Australia at home after the ODI World Cup 2023 and also to a series draw against South Africa away from home. Moreover, he is number one T20I batsman in the team and hence he is sure to feature in all the series. Keeping that in mind, the selectors and the team management is taking this decision.

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