Former India fielding coach R Sridhar has spoken about why Suryakumar Yadav was given the leadership of Team India in T20Is instead of Hardik Pandya. He said that the fact that Suryakumar is the number one batsman, along with other factors, has worked in his favour.

In a surprising decision by the Indian team management and the BCCI, Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the new captain of the T20I team. This came after veteran batsman Rohit Sharma retired from the shortest format of the game after leading Team India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

With Rohit Sharma’s retirement, it was almost certain that Hardik Pandya would take over the charge as he was the vice-captain of the team and also captained the team during the period when Rohit was rested from T20Is post the 2022 T20 World Cup. But in a surprising turn of events, he was not considered.

The selectors opted for Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya as they were not impressed with Pandya’s injury history and claimed that by giving the captaincy to the all-rounder, they would not have been able to manage his workload.

In an interaction with Hindustan Times, R Sridhar was asked about the decision to give the T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav instead of Hardik Pandya. He said that the fact that the batsman has played all the matches without worrying about workload management has worked in his favour. He added that BCCI trusted the batsman after he led the team in the absence of Rohit and Hardik. He explained:

“I think the reason was mentioned by the selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar in the media itself. The very fact that Surya is someone who will be on the field in every match that India plays and is not worried about workload management is something that has tipped the balance in his favour in terms of captaincy.

“In some of the matches where he captained India when Rohit and Hardik were not available, he has given the BCCI confidence that he can do an excellent job.”

He is someone who has demonstrated leadership qualities throughout his tenure – R Sridhar on Suryakumar Yadav

R Sridhar further pointed out that Suryakumar Yadav was Gautam Gambhir’s second in command at the Kolkata Knight Riders and highlighted that the batsman has emerged as a leader throughout his career. Explaining why the batsman was given the captaincy, he explained:

“He has been vice-captain and was at KKR before that when Gambhir was the captain, he has obviously been good to Mumbai Indians when they needed him. He is someone who has shown leadership qualities during his tenure with the Indian team. That has kept him in good shape, again coming back to his relationship with the other players, how they look up to him.

“He is the world’s number one T20 batsman and that also works in his favour. The confidence, the ability to lead the team on and off the field, the player’s availability for every match, his cricketing acumen – all these factors have tipped the scales in his favour.”

Suryakumar Yadav began his captaincy on a high as India won the three-match T20I series by a 3-0 margin under his leadership.