New Delhi, July 17 (Udaipur Kiran) – Suryakumar Yadav is set to be appointed as India’s new T20 captain for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, replacing the current vice-captain Hardik Pandya. Suryakumar will take over from Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20 Internationals last month after winning the T20 World Cup on Caribbean soil, along with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.
While Hardik was the vice-captain to Rohit during the T20 World Cup and is more experienced as a captain, having led Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians in the IPL, as well as India in three ODIs and 16 T20 matches, fitness concerns and workload management are the primary reasons for not appointing him as captain.
Hardik suffered an ankle injury during the 50-over World Cup on home soil last October-November and was out of action until the start of IPL 2024, after which he returned to captain Mumbai. He only returned to the national team for the T20 World Cup. In fact, Hardik has participated in only 46 out of the 79 T20 matches India has played since the beginning of 2022.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar has previously captained Mumbai in the domestic circuit. Recently, he led India to a 4-1 series victory against Australia in a T20 series last November, followed by a 1-1 draw in a series against South Africa. Suryakumar is also one of the first names on the team sheet for India in this format.
The T20 International matches in Sri Lanka will be India’s first tour under the new coach Gautam Gambhir, who will replace Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup. This tour is seen as the first step towards preparation for the next T20 World Cup, which India will co-host in 2026.
A young Indian team, led by Shubman Gill, returned earlier this week after winning a 4-1 T20 International series against Zimbabwe. This team included only three players from the World Cup-winning squad.
It is expected that the selectors will finalize the squad for the tour in a meeting on Wednesday. The tour will include three T20 International matches and three One Day Internationals.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
