Gautam Gambhir’s Advice to BCCI on T20I Captaincy: Hardik Pandya or Suryakumar Yadav?

The race for the next captain of the Indian T20I cricket team continues to heat up, with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav emerging as the top contenders. Following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, the captaincy position remains vacant. Initially seen as the favorite to succeed Rohit, vice-captain Hardik’s candidacy has been overshadowed by Suryakumar’s recent rise in consideration. Reports suggest that Suryakumar is likely to be appointed captain for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka, with concerns within the team management regarding Hardik’s injury history. The official squad announcement is scheduled for Thursday, following an informal discussion where head coach Gautam Gambhir participated alongside BCCI officials and the selection committee.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, although Gambhir did not explicitly endorse any candidate during the call, he emphasized his preference for a captain whose fitness and workload management would not pose future challenges.

“While Gambhir didn’t advocate specifically for Suryakumar during the call, he clearly expressed his desire to work with a captain whose fitness wouldn’t hinder performance. Agarkar’s stance was firm on this matter,” a BCCI official informed Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav ranks second in the ICC T20I batting rankings, making him the highest-placed Indian player, while young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal climbed to sixth position after his standout performance in the recent series against Zimbabwe, where he scored 141 runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad slipped to eighth place in the T20 batters’ list following India’s 4-1 series win over Zimbabwe.

Yashasvi’s impressive innings saw him rise four spots, trailing only Australia’s Travis Head, who holds the top spot, and Suryakumar.

Shubman Gill, leading India in the absence of senior players during the Zimbabwe series, emerged as the leading run-scorer with 170 runs from five innings, propelling him 36 places to 37th in the rankings.

None of the Indian bowlers feature in the top 10 of the T20I bowling rankings. Axar Patel, rested during the Zimbabwe series, dropped four places to 13th.