New Delhi: Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav are the contenders for India’s T20I captaincy after Rohit Sharma. This is possibly the reason behind the delay in squad announcement for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka.
According to reports, the BCCI was scheduled to announce the teams for the Sri Lanka tour on Wednesday but because there is still no decision on whether Suryakumar Yadav or Hardik Pandya will lead the team in the shortest format, the announcement was delayed for another day.
After winning the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20I cricket. Hardik led the Men in Blue in Rohit’s absence and was also the vice-captain of the team in the T20 World Cup but BCCI has yet to decide whether to back Hardik as captain or appoint Suryakumar as the new skipper of the team in the shortest format.
Hardik got injured during the ODI World Cup 2023 and made his comeback in the IPL 2024. In Hardik’s absence, Suryakumar led Team India to a 4-1 series victory against Australia. He also captained the team in the T20I series against South Africa.
The reason for choosing Suryakumar as the new skipper is mainly because of Hardik’s fitness record. Many media reports also suggested that Gambhir and Jay Shah discussed the T20I captaincy over a video call but couldn’t reach a decision.
Rohit to be back for ODIs, Bumrah and Kohli rested
According to a Cricbuzz report, Rohit Sharma is all set to lead Team India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Earlier, it was reported that Rohit, Virat and Bumrah would be rested from the ODI series but the new head coach Gautam Gambhir wants Rohit to lead the team in the 50-over series.
India will only play six ODIs before next year’s Champions Trophy and that was the main reason for Rohit’s participation in the series. While Virat and Bumrah will be rested for the series.
According to multiple reports, BCCI Secretory Jay Shah and the new head coach Gautam Gambhir couldn’t decide on India’s T20I captaincy. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
