The Indian cricket team left for Sri Lanka on Monday for the forthcoming white-ball series.
The Indian cricket team left for Sri Lanka on Monday for the forthcoming white-ball series. The series will start on July 27 with three T20Is, followed by three ODIs. In the T20Is, the visitors will be headed by ace batter Suryakumar Yadav, while in the ODIs, regular captain Rohit Sharma will lead. Everyone was taken aback when all-rounder Hardik Pandya was chosen over Surya, despite being tipped as Rohit’s most worthy replacement. Not only that, but Pandya was replaced as vice-captain by young hitter Shubman Gill.
Before the Sri Lanka match, newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir and selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar conducted a news conference in Mumbai.
When asked about Gill’s position as vice-captain in both T20Is and ODIs, Agarkar commended the youthful opener, describing him as an all-round player with quality.
“When Hardik became hurt, it was a bit of a hardship. Rohit was still around, and it made our lives much easier. He came and took the lead. We don’t want that circumstance to happen again. Shubman is the guy we feel again because he is a three-format player first and foremost, and he has demonstrated quality in the previous year or so,” said Agarkar.”You aim to have someone who can learn from some of the senior people who are there. Surya in this case, or Rohit, who is still around, so we don’t face the same issues (as) suddenly (you are) looking for a captain in case of an injury or loss of form someplace. “He’s demonstrated some decent leadership qualities,” he continued.
This series also sees the comeback of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who were previously neglected. Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper-batsman, has also joined the squad.
Agarkar stated that the path to leadership roles for previous deputies such as KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and even Pandya remains open.”The first thing we need to do is get him (Pant) back playing. He’ll be an important player for us despite not having played much cricket. We will see what he can do. We don’t want to put further load on someone who has just returned to the game after being off for over a year. “KL hasn’t played T20 in a while,” he stated.
