Suryakumar Yadav was selected as the captain of India’s T20 team on Thursday. The team is going to play in Sri Lanka under his leadership. Earlier, Hardik Pandya was made the vice captain of the Indian team in the T20 World Cup. It was naturally assumed that after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from the T20 format, Hardik would replace Rohit as the captain. It is under his leadership that the Indian team will go to play in Sri Lanka. But this possible picture gradually changed this week.
BCCI sources claimed that Hardik was not wanted by coach Gautam Gambhir as captain. Hardik is prone to injuries. And, in the absence of Rohit-Virat, the best T20 batsman of the Indian team is Suryakumar Yadav. National Selection Committee Chairman Ajit Agarkar also agreed with Gambhir in this regard. But this time, new information emerged.
Hardik Pandya has replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL. Before that, Hardik moved to the Gujarat Titans for two years from Mumbai, leading Gujarat to its first ever title. The runners did it for the second time. Suryakumar Yadav has yet to captain any team in the IPL. For that reason, it was assumed that Hardik was going to be the next captain of India’s T20 team.
But the whole situation started changing gradually since last Tuesday. The Indian Cricket Board wants to give the new coach, Gautam Gambhir, the freedom to run the team with an open hand. And, for that reason, Gambhir’s opinion has been given special importance in party elections. Gautam Gambhir started trying to explain in various ways on Tuesday that Hardik’s injury continued. It is not wise to make him the leader of the national team.
But according to media reports, former captain Rohit Sharma is behind this sudden change of decision by the board. However, it is also true that Gautam Gambhir’s relationship with Suryakumar Yadav has been going on for a long time. During Gambhir’s captaincy of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Suryakumar Yadav was played regularly despite his failures. And, under Gambhir’s leadership, the Knights won the IPL twice. As a result, no one objected to Gambhir playing Suryakumar.
In an interview with the media, Gambhir said, ‘A leader’s job is to choose the best person. And presenting it to the world. If there is one regret in my seven years as captain, it is not being able to use the best of Suryakumar Yadav.’ Shubman Gill has been made Suryakumar’s assistant captain. Because, under the leadership of 24-year-old Gill, the Indian team has won the five-match T20 series in Zimbabwe by a margin of 4-1.
