Former India Coach Explains Why Suryakumar Yadav Was Appointed As T20I Captain

India’s former fielding coach, R. Sridhar, has explained the reason why Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India’s T20I captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the shortest format of the game in June. The former world No. 1 T20I batter was preferred over Hardik Pandya as Rohit’s replacement.

According to Sridhar, who was India’s bowling coach during Ravi Shastri’s stint as head coach, Surya can be available for most of the T20I matches, and it will be easier to manage his workload.

“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,” Sridhar told Hindustan Times.

He further highlighted how Surya had previously led India to successful results in T20Is.

“Some of the matches he has captained India in when Rohit and Hardik were not available have given confidence to the BCCI that he can do an excellent job,” he said.

“He has been vice captain and was at KKR before that, when Gambhir was the captain… He is someone who has exhibited leadership qualities throughout his tenure with the Indian team. That’s held him in good stead, again falling back to his rapport with the other players and how they look up to him,” Sridhar added.

Apart from leadership skills, Sridhar also talked about Suryakumar’s individual prowess in T20Is and said, “He is the No. 1 T20 batter in the world and is something that 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.”

Rohit announced his retirement from T20Is after leading India to the T20 World Cup title win in 2024. After beating South Africa in the final, Rohit hung up his boots alongside Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. He finished his career as the leading run scorer in T20Is. Along with that, he is also the most-capped player in T20I history and holds the record for hitting most sixes and centuries.