Suryakumar Yadav frontrunner to lead India in T20Is over Hardik: Report

Suryakumar Yadav is the frontrunner to lead India in T20Is following the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the format. As reported by Cricinfo, Surya is set to be appointed as captain for the three T20Is in Sri Lanka over the incumbent vice-captain, Hardik Pandya. 

Pandya has been India’s vice-captain in T20 cricket for a while, following his successful stint as Gujarat Titans’ skipper at the Indian Premier League for two seasons. Besides playing as captain over the last three years in IPL, Pandya has also led India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is. Meanwhile, Surya has led India in seven T20Is. However, in non-international T20s, Surya’s captaincy experience is far less than that of Pandya - 17 matches as compared to Pandya’s 45-match experience. 

Surya led Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2019 and 2021 season with a win percentage of 60%. He also led Mumbai Indians in one game against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2023 season, which MI won by five wickets. 

Surya captained India to a 4-1 win over Australia right after the 50-over World Cup last year. The opportunity came after Pandya injured his ankle midway through the World Cup and was out until the start of IPL 2024. 

After Australia, Surya led India in a three-match T20I series in South Africa, which was drawn 1-1. 

Both Surya and Pandya skipped the five T20Is in Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup win the USA and West Indies. 

Surya has been India’s most prolific batter in the format ever since his debut in 2021. No other Indian batter has scored more runs than the Mumbaikar since his T20 debut (2,340 runs at an average of 43.3). The 33-year-old also has four hundreds in this period, the most by any batter worldwide. 

The Sri Lanka tour will be the first assignment for Gautam Gambhir as India’s head coach. The tour will feature three ODIs following the three T20Is in Pallekele. Gambhir and Surya were teammates for KKR between 2014 and 2017. Gambhir’s familiarity with Surya might have played a part in the latter surpassing Pandya as captaincy candidate. 

The selectors are expected to finalize the squad for both ODIs and T20Is on Wednesday (July 17).

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