Suryakumar Yadav's childhood coach, Ashok Aswalkar, expressed delight after he was appointed as India's new T20I captain for the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka. After Rohit Sharma decided to bring the curtain down on his T20I career in the aftermath of India's triumph in the T20 World Cup, the captaincy spot was left vacant.
Shubman Gill assumed the duties of leading an inexperienced side for the five T20Is against Zimbabwe. But for India's upcoming T20Is, a new face will lead the Indian side.
Expressing happiness over what Suryakumar has achieved in his career, Aswalkar told ANI, "I had messaged him in the afternoon saying that you would get a big message today, and in the evening, when we heard the news, I felt very proud...I feel very happy. Captaincy is a slightly different role. He played in the World Cup 2024 with great players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja. By playing with such great cricketers, we get to learn a lot."
Hardik Pandya not in the leadership hierarchy in either of the formats:
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Suryakumar has had a taste of leading the Indian side after he captained the team during last year's 4-1 T20I series triumph against Australia and a 1-1 series draw against South Africa earlier this year.
Gill was named Suryakumar's deputy for the T20I series. Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, in contention to lead the side in the T20I format, has been included in the squad but won't feature in the leadership hierarchy of the team.
The T20I series will begin on July 27 at Pallekele, followed by three ODIs, which will kick off in Colombo on August 2.
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), duhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), duhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
