Ajit Agarkar Opens Up On Choosing Suryakumar Yadav As T20I Captain Instead Of Hardik Pandya

Ahead of the T20I series against Sri Lanka, Indian Cricket Team’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the call to appoint right-hand batter Suryakumar Yadav as captain instead of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the shortest format of the game. Suryakumar Yadav was announced as the captain of the T20I on Thursday and will become the captain for the first time in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The three T20Is are scheduled to take place on July 27, 28 and 30.

Agarkar again highlighted the importance of Pandya to the team due to his different skill sets and challenges he had to deal with in terms of fitness.

“Hardik is always an important player for us. Those skillsets are hard to find. Fitness has been a challenge with him. Hopefully, his performances are more important than anything else. We want someone who is likely to be available more often than not. Saying all that, Surya has got all the necessary qualities to be the captain,” Agarkar said in the presser.

After the T20I series, there will be a three-match ODI series that will kick off on August 1. According to ESPNCricinfo, the Pallekele International Stadium has been set to host the T20Is, while the R Premadasa will play host to the ODI matches.

Both teams will have new head coaches. Sanath Jayasuriya has been appointed as an interim head coach in Sri Lanka, while Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian opener, will take up his first assignment as head coach, succeeding the T20 World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid.

Last time India played a bilateral white-ball series in Sri Lanka, it was July 2021 with Dravid at the helm of the Shikhar Dhawan-led team. India clinched the ODIs 2-1 while Sri Lanka bounced back to take the T20Is by the same margin.

This will be the second T20I series for India since their victory in the T20 World Cup, where they beat South Africa by seven runs in the final. In fact, India also registered a 4-1 win over Zimbabwe in the recently held 5-match T20I series.

India T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav C, Shubman 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, Mohd. Siraj.