India chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed the reason for appointing Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain over Hardik Pandya ahead of the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The T20 World Champions are set to participate in a three-match T20I series in Sri Lanka, commencing on July 26th, with the second and third T20Is scheduled for July 27th and 29th respectively. Pandya, who served as India’s vice-captain under captain Rohit Sharma during the T20 World Cup, was long considered the next white-ball captain of India. However, following Sharma’s retirement from T20I cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Suryakumar Yadav as his successor instead of Pandya. Agarkar explained the reason for appointing Yadav as the captain, highlighting the star batter’s cricketing acumen and team rapport. “Why Surya was made the captain, because he is one of the deserving candidates,” Agarkar said at a press conference.

“He’s been around the group over the last year, we get feedback from the dressing room a lot. [He has a] good cricket brain, and [is] one of the best T20 batters in the world. Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel The former pacer drew attention to Pandya’s fitness concerns, mentioning that the decision to not give him captaincy would help in managing his workload to keep him fit. “We want him [Hardik Pandya] to be the player he can be because those sorts of skillsets are difficult to find. Fitness has been a challenge for him over the last few years,” Agarkar stated. “His fitness is a challenge and we wanted someone who is available more often than not. Surya has the qualities you need to succeed as a captain. Two years is a bit more time to try and look at some things a bit differently. In this way, we can manage Hardik better.”

The chief selector denied reports that Pandya suddenly lost favour after Gautam Gambhir became the head coach, stating that the move had been discussed for the past few months. “These conversations don’t happen overnight. We’ve discussed them over the last few months, leading up to the World Cup as well,” he added. “You get feedback from the dressing room as well, and the biggest thing is that the captain should be on the park. It’s a prerequisite really. Hopefully, Surya does it and so far, there hasn’t been a concern over his T20 batting anyway.” Notably, Hardik Pandya has captained India in 16 T20I matches, winning 10 of them, while Suryakumar Yadav has led the side in seven games, winning five.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan