India announced their squad for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka on Thursday (July 18), and Suryakumar Yadav was named captain ahead of all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
India lifted the T20 World Cup on June 29, following which stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirements from T20I cricket. Rohit's retirement meant that the side would need a new permanent captain.
The three stand-out candidates for the role had been Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah. As the three senior-most players in the squad, they were perhaps natural choices.
Pandya was the favourite, given he had served as vice-captain under Rohit, and captained India on 16 occasions. Yadav was considered an alternate option to Pandya, with Bumrah a distant third choice.
Also read: The uncomfortable captaincy conundrum that awaits India
Suryakumar Yadav pips Hardik Pandya to T20I captaincy
In the eyes of many, it seemed that installing Pandya as captain was a mere formality. But a day before the squads were announced, reports had broken that Yadav was set to pip Pandya to the post, owing to the number of injuries the latter has suffered.
Yadav captained India eight times against Australia and South Africa last year and has led Mumbai Indians in the IPL, in Rohit Sharma's absence.
Pandya's captaincy credentials were further underlined by the fact that he had led Gujarat Titans to an IPL title and a final, but he did have a poor season with Mumbai Indians in 2024. Apparently, these were not enough for him to land the role.
🚨 NEW CAPTAIN 🚨
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) July 18, 2024
Suryakumar Yadav will lead India in their T20I series against Sri Lanka! 🫡
Hardik Pandya – Rohit Sharma’s deputy at the T20 World Cup – is part of the squad but without a leadership role of any kind.
Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/GBov44Soh4
Also read: How has Suryakumar Yadav, India's rumoured T20I captain, fared as skipper in the past?
Pandya misses out on vice-captaincy as well
Interestingly, Pandya has not been named vice-captain of the T20I squad either. That post has gone to batter Shubman Gill, who led India on their recent tour of Zimbabwe and was Pandya's successor as Gujarat Titans.
Gill has also been named vice-captain of India's ODI squad for this tour, which Rohit is still leading.
The white-ball series against Sri Lanka starts on July 27.
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