 "Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during the T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. AP")
Hardik Pandya has been widely tipped to take over the role of India leadership from Rohit Sharma in T20Is after the latter’s retirement from the shortest format.
Latest reports, however, put Suryakumar Yadav in the race as a dark horse, and the dashing batter might just end up pipping his Mumbai Indians teammate to the role, not just for the Sri Lanka tour but till the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Pandya has made himself available for the T20I leg of the Sri Lanka that gets underway on 27 July, while seeking permission to skip the ODIs. And given he had served as vice-captain under Rohit’s leadership in the T20 World Cup, he was expected to take over.
Surya, however, had led the Men in Blue in T20Is against Australia and South Africa late last year when Pandya was out of action due to an ankle injury. He reportedly is newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar’s preferred choice for the role and might just end up bagging the job.
It is learnt that both Gambhir and Agarkar spoke to Pandya about this change of plan earlier this evening and explained to him that a long-term option was being finalised to ensure stability.
The T20 leadership role fell vacant after Rohit bid adieu to his international career in the shortest format following India’s World Cup triumph last month in the West Indies.
Pandya, one of the heroes of that victory, will take a break during the three-match ODI series against the island nation due to “personal reasons”. The T20Is against Sri Lanka will run from 27 to 30 July in Pallekele, followed by the ODIs from 2 to 7 August in Colombo.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe squad for the series is expected to be announced in the next couple of days.
“Hardik Pandya was India’s T20 vice-captain under Rohit Sharma. He is completely fit and available for the three-match T20I series and was supposed to lead the side but there is a very strong feeling that SKY would be the potential leader not only for the Sri Lanka series but till the 2026 World Cup,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“Hardik’s break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. He doesn’t have any fitness issue as is being suggested in the media,” the official said.
The 33-year-old Suryakumar is believed to be one of the most popular players in the Indian dressing room.
It was under Gambhir’s captaincy at the Kolkata Knight Riders that he made a name for himself as a T20 player and got nicknamed ‘SKY’ by the then skipper.
Hardik was seen as an obvious successor to Rohit but multiple factors have come into play.
His performance as Mumbai Indians skipper was underwhelming and the selectors are in no mood to let him pick and choose his assignments.
The selectors won’t mind seeing him play Vijay Hazare Trophy this season to get some 50-over practice.
About the ODIs, the official confirmed that Pandya has asked for leave and has already communicated this to Rohit, who is also taking a break from this series.
For the ODIs, KL Rahul, who led in the last series in South Africa, and Gill are in contention for the leadership role.
Thrust on domestic availability
BCCI secretary Jay Shah has made it clear that even star cricketers must make themselves available for domestic engagements when they are free from national duty. But exceptions will be made for the likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
The BCCI would, however, want all the other Test specialists to play at least one if not a couple of Duleep Trophy games in August as a precursor to the Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
“This time there is no zonal selection committee for Duleep Trophy. Only national selection committee will pick Duleep teams.
“All Test team contenders will be picked. For Rohit, Virat and Bumrah, it will be their choice if they want to play or not,” the source added.
With PTI inputs