'When Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya were unavailable...' - R Sridhar reveals why Suryakumar Yadav got T20I captaincy

Former India fielding coach R Sridhar opened up about why Suryakumar Yadav was given the leadership of Team India in the T20Is over Hardik Pandya. He said that Suryakumar being the No.1 batter, along with other factors, has worked in his favor.

In what was a shocking decision by the Indian team management and the BCCI, Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as the new captain of the T20I team. This came after senior batter Rohit Sharma retired from the shortest format of the game after leading Team India to victory in the T20 World Cup 2024.

With Rohit Sharma retiring, it was almost certain that Hardik Pandya would take over the charge because he was vice-captain of the team and also captained the team during the period when Rohit was rested from the T20Is post-T20 World Cup 2022. But in a shocking turn of events, he wasn't considered.

The selectors went with Suryakumar Yadav over Hardik Pandya. This was because they weren't impressed with Pandya's injury history and stated that by giving captaincy to the all-rounder, they wouldn't have been able to manage his workload.

R Sridhar, in an interaction with Hindustan Times, was asked about the decision to give the T20I captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav instead of Hardik Pandya. He said that the batter playing all the games without worrying about the workload management has worked in his favor. He added that BCCI got confidence in the batter after he led the team in the absence of Rohit and Hardik. He elaborated:

"I think the reason was addressed by the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, in the media itself. The very fact that Surya is someone who will be on the park for every match India is playing and not being bothered about workload monitoring is something that has tilted the scales in his favour in terms of captaincy.

"Some of the matches he had captained India when Rohit and Hardik were not available, has given confidence to the BCCI that he can do an excellent job."

He is someone who has exhibited leadership qualities throughout his tenure - R Sridhar on Suryakumar Yadav

R Sridhar further pointed out that Suryakumar Yadav was Gautam Gambhir's deputy at the Kolkata Knight Riders and stressed that batter has developed into a leader throughout his career. While explaining why the batter was given the captaincy, he explained:

"He has been vice-captain and was at KKR before that when Gambhir was the captain, he's obviously been good with Mumbai Indians when they need him. He is someone who has exhibited leadership qualities throughout his tenure of being with the Indian team. That's held him in good stead, again falling back to his rapport with the other players, how they look up to him.

"He is the no. 1 T20 batter in the world, that is something which goes in his favour as well. The confidence, the ability to lead the team both on and off the field, the availability of the player for all matches, his cricketing acumen, all these factors have tilted the scales in his favour."

Suryakumar Yadav began his captaincy stint on high as under him India won the three-match T20I series by a margin of 3-0.