Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy potential questioned by Rohit Sharma's T20 World Cup winning teammate

Former India cricketers have asked the fans to give the new Indian team and its coaching staff some time before they can settle down into their roles. Indian cricket witnessed quite a few changes in the past few days.

One of them was the appointment of Suryakumar Yadav as India's new T20I captain. After Rohit Sharma retired from the shortest format following India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, the position of India's T20I captain was vacant. The selectors and the new head coach backed Suryakumar Yadav for the role after his excellent numbers in T20I cricket.

Suryakumar Yadav's first assignment as India's full-time T20I captain will be the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka starting at Pallekele on July 27.

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Robin Uthappa asks fans to let the new Indian team settle down

During an interaction organized by Sony Sports, Robin Uthappa spoke to the news agency ANI. The former India batter asked the fans to let the new team and management settle down in their roles and give them some time. He believes that it will be an interesting series to know how the team performs in the new structure.

"I think it's a start. Something new post the World Cup. I think it's an important start for India. They played in Zimbabwe, but I think traveling with the team and being the first tour of any coach or any leadership group...will take time to settle down. I think as fans, supporters and lovers of Indian cricket, we need to give them that time to kind of settle down and fall into a rhythm," Uthappa said to ANI.

"I think this one's going to be an exciting tour to just see how the team kind of functions individually in this new infrastructure," he added.

"Yet to discover the kind of leader Surya will be" - Robin Uthappa

Uthappa further added that although Suryakumar Yadav has been an excellent batter in T20 cricket, his captaincy is still unknown and it shouldn't be compared with the previous captains.

"I don't think we should be comparing it. We are yet to discover the kind of leader Surya will be. Suryakumar Yadav has been an incredible batter and someone who's been such an important cog in this Indian cricket team, especially in T20 cricket, one of the best T20 batters in the world, arguably ever," the former KKR opener added.

Suryakumar Yadav has excellent numbers in T20I cricket and has won numerous games for India in the format. In 68 T20Is he has played so far, he has scored 2340 runs at an average of 43.33 and a strike rate of 167.74. He is currently the No. 2 batter in the ICC T20I rankings, just behind Travis Head.

Uthappa also spoke about Sanju Samson's lack of opportunities at a particular batting spot. With the competition being extremely high within the Indian team, Samson's batting position has not been fixed. Notably, he was a part of India's T20 World Cup-winning squad but did not play a game there.

"Samson has been a part of the World Cup-winning side. He didn't get to play a game in that, but he was there. The biggest challenge for someone like him is the fact that he can't find a spot for himself where he can consistently play at a batting position," Uthappa opined.

"Samson bats best at number three, with a maximum number four. That's been a hard one to find for him within this Indian team. Samson is not the first one to experience in Indian cricket and won't be the last one to experience Indian cricket. We've all been through it. Sanju's done fairly well at the opportunities that come his way," Uthappa concluded.