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New Delhi, July 17 (HS). Suryakumar Yadav is set to be appointed as India's new T20 captain for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, replacing the current vice-captain of the team Hardik Pandya. Suryakumar will replace Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20 Internationals along with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after winning the T20 World Cup on Caribbean soil last month.
However, Hardik was Rohit's vice-captain in the T20 World Cup and is the more experienced captain – he has led India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is apart from leading Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
According to ESPNcricinfo, fitness concerns and workload management are the main reasons behind Hardik not being made the captain.
Hardik suffered an ankle injury during the 50-over World Cup at home last October-November and was out of action until the start of IPL 2024, after which he returned to captain Mumbai. He returned for the national team only in the T20 World Cup. In fact, Hardik has featured in only 46 of the 79 T20 matches played by India since the start of 2022.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar has previously captained Mumbai in the domestic circuit as well. Most recently, he led India to a 4-1 win in the T20I series against Australia in November last year, followed by a 1-1 series draw in South Africa. Suryakumar is also among the first names in India's first-choice XI in this format.
The T20 Internationals in Sri Lanka will be India's first tour under new coach Gautam Gambhir, who will replace Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup. It is also seen as the first step towards preparation for the next T20 World Cup, which India will co-host in 2026.
A young Indian team, led by Shubman Gill, returned from Zimbabwe earlier this week after winning the T20I series 4-1. The squad included only three players from the World Cup-winning team.
It is believed that the selectors will meet on Wednesday to finalise the team going on the tour. Along with three T20 International matches, there will also be three ODI matches in this tour.
