Suryakumar Yadav, the recently anointed T20I captain of India, took up the role of team captain on Thursday. After serving as Team India’s vice captain under Rohit Sharma for a considerable amount of time, it appeared that Hardik Pandya would be appointed. However, the all-rounder’s persistent fitness problems forced the BCCI selection committee to find a replacement. An old video of Surya that surfaced on social media after he was named the team’s captain in the shortest format showed the new “captain” discussing his leadership philosophy.
The video clip was shared by Star Sports on their X. In that video, Suryakumar can be seen talking about his captaincy. The footage dates back to 2023 when Surya led the Indian side to victories of 4-1 against Australia and 1-1 in the shortest format versus South Africa.
“I am really enjoying this new role, enjoying spending time with everybody and we all have played together a lot either in franchise cricket or in state cricket, so it’s not that difficult to understand their strengths and weaknesses. And off the field we also spend so much time so the rapport we have on the field become very good,” he said in the video.
“It’s important for me to keep things simple, I am a process-oriented man, I like to keep things simple and that’s what I try and tell everybody that try and keep things really simple, don’t try and be a different version of yourself,” he added.
In the next three-match 20-over series against Sri Lanka, Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy will be Shubman Gill, who captained the Men in Blue in the recently finished Twenty20 International series against Zimbabwe. Star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who captained the team the previous time, was not selected to take the helm.
After receiving respite for India’s tour to Zimbabwe, pacers Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant were also called up for the T20I team. India’s visit to Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin on July 27.
