Respect and Leadership: India Coach Backs Suryakumar Yadav for T20I Captaincy

With Gautam Gambhir as the new head coach and Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20I skipper, the Indian cricket team is ready to start a new chapter.

The hero of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav, has been called up to captain India for the three T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka, starting on July 27.

Experts surmise that the Indian team management’s choice to name Surya as the T20I captain was a major factor. They wanted a captain who could play every game and avoid injuries for an extended amount of time.

But given Hardik’s past chronic injury history, it didn’t seem likely that he would be selected as captain.

Another explanation might be his relationships with younger players, who respect Surya and find it easy to approach him.

Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey claims that former India head coach Rahul Dravid had the idea to name Surya the captain of the T20 Internationals.

“First and foremost, when you pick a captain, you expect the captain to play all the games in that format. We, the coaches and selectors, have always felt that here’s a guy who’s gonna have a long future in the T20 format. He has mastered that skill. One of the best in this format. He and Klaasen are maybe one or two in T20Is now based on their current form. Just the pure impact he has on winning games for India is phenomenal,” Mhambrey told HT.

Surya had captained Mumbai in domestic cricket before, but prior to the Australia and South Africa series, he had no prior experience at the highest level of team leadership.

Mhambrey mentioned Every member of the team gets along well with Suryakumar Yadav.

“He’s been with the team. I’ve seen him interact with the young guys. On one hand, we had Rohit and Virat, guys who are stalwarts, and then we have Surya, who is experienced but probably even closer to the youngsters. He is very friendly with everyone. He has that respect from the younger lot. The youngsters need to interact with him, he’s good at it. So, has a good bond with everyone in the team. He has come up through the ranks, so he has a lot of experience and is a smart cricketer,” the former India bowling coach.

He added, “He has a lot of cricket left in him. He has a good four-five years of cricket left in him. With all this, I think he is a great choice.”

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