Chief selector Ajit Agarkar stated that “the captain should be on the park” in explaining the choice to choose Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I skipper and assign Shubman Gill to the vice captaincy in the white ball. Stated differently, Hardik Pandya’s inability to maintain his fitness has come back to haunt him.
“It is because Surya is one of the worthy candidates that he was selected as the captain,” Agarkar stated during a news conference held in Mumbai on Monday. “He has been with the group for the past year; we frequently receive input from the dressing room. He is among the world’s top T20 batsmen and has an excellent cricket intellect.
One of the primary points [considered] was the need for a captain who will probably participate in every game. We believe he is a worthy choice, and we look forward to watching him grow in the position over time.”
Up to the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hardik led India as vice captain in the shorter forms, taking over as captain when Rohit Sharma was rested or unavailable. Hardik, however, has only appeared in 46 of the 79 T20Is that India has played since the beginning of 2022. He was sidelined till the beginning of the 2024 Indian Premier League due to an ankle injury he sustained at the ODI World Cup in India last year.
During India’s T20 World Cup victory, Hardik demonstrated the benefits of being completely fit by scoring 144 runs at a strike rate of 151.57 and taking back 11 wickets at an average of 17.36.
According to Agarkar, the decision to not provide him further leadership responsibilities would enable the team management to more effectively oversee his workload. We want him to play as well as he can because those kind of skill sets are hard to come by. For the past few years, he has struggled with fitness. Then, both the coach and the selectors find it challenging to choose Hardik captain and then lose him to injury. With a little more time before the next T20 World Cup, we may now examine a few issues. He’s a key player, and we care more about his performances.
“We were looking for someone who is available most of the time, but his fitness is an issue. Surya possesses the attributes required to be a successful captain. It’s a bit more time to try and look at certain things differently after two years. We can better control Hardik in this way.”
“Every time you play, you’re risking losing your spot. These discussions take time to occur. In the months preceding the World Cup, we have also talked about them. The captain ought to be on the field, according to the dressing room’s comments, which is the most important thing to know. Really, it’s a requirement. Hopefully Surya succeeds, and his T20 batting hasn’t raised any red flags thus far.”
Gill led India on a tour of Zimbabwe earlier this month, when they won the T20I series 4-1. Gill experienced premier league leadership for the first time with the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2024. With Rohit’s withdrawal from the Twenty20 format, he appears to be the chosen opener in the format alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, ensuring his spot in the ODI and Test teams.
“We think Shubman is the one. He plays three formats and, based on what we’ve heard from the locker room over the past year or two, appears to have a lot more skills. We thus want someone who can pick up knowledge from the more experienced guys—Rohit, who is still with us in this case, and Surya in this case.
“It’s been a long since KL [Rahul] participated in T20Is. We have an opportunity to somewhat reset the clock and a little more time to plan after looking at some of the input that we’ve received. It was difficult to be captain when Rohit wasn’t playing after Hardik did sustain an injury.
Rohit’s ability to lead made our lives simpler while he was still with us. That is not a scenario we wish to repeat. We don’t want to have the same difficulties where we have to scramble to find a new captain in the event of an injury or drop in performance.
Sanju Samson failed to make the Sri Lanka tour team, even though he scored a century in his most recent One-Day International against South Africa. After a great World Cup the previous year, Rahul was still the first-choice wicketkeeper, and Samson was forced to make way for Rishabh Pant, the backup gloveman.
“Before his unfortunate [car] accident, [Rishabh] has been a key player for us,” Agarkar said. “KL had an amazing World Cup and has been outstanding in one-day cricket. Sanju was the unfortunate one who had to miss out in this case. If these people don’t continue to produce and score runs, you can be sure that a talented player is on the verge of being available. We think these two will play a major part in the upcoming Test season. It will be a step forward to see Rishabh play 50 overs; perhaps, he will improve on his previous performance.”
India did not want to give Pant the vice captaincy because he was only recently making a comeback in the longer forms.
“Rishabh’s been out for a long time, we need to get him back playing,” Agarkar stated. “Despite not playing much cricket, he is an important player. He has demonstrated his abilities in international cricket, winning Test series quite handily. The first thing we want is for him to return to playing. We don’t want to inconvenience someone who is returning after more than a year once again.”
Jadeja has not been dropped
Ravindra Jadeja “was not dropped” from the ODI lineup, according to Agarkar, but rather was left out to allow Axar Patel more opportunity.
For this little series, it would have been completely useless to bring both him and Axar. We are aware of Jaddu’s actions. He’s enjoyed an incredible World Cup. Everything is up for grabs. However, if we had selected both, there was [a potential that just] one of them would have participated in all three games. He will probably play in several Tests throughout the upcoming busy Test season. Three games wouldn’t have mattered, in my opinion. That’s why, no, [he is] not dropped at all.”
Agarkar also stated that Suryakumar is being considered as a T20I player for India now that Shreyas Iyer, Rahul, and Pant are back in ODIs.
Some Test players likely to play Duleep Trophy
According to Agarkar, a few of India’s Test players would probably participate in this season’s opening Duleep Trophy match. This season, the Duleep Trophy will take place in Anantpur from September 5 to September 22. Mid-September is anticipated to see India open their domestic season with a Test series against Bangladesh.
“We haven’t discussed with Gautam yet – it’s not always easy – but there will certainly be enough players out of that squad that are likely to play the first [Duleep Trophy] game at least,” Agarkar stated. They actually can only play that game. We’ll have a conversation about which men should play. It is advantageous for the competition if all of your best players are there. With such a demanding and lengthy season, it is difficult for the players to find a place to play during a week off. Some members of the team will really play.”
Mohammed Shami’s objective, according to Agarkar, is to recover in time for India’s home Test matches. After having to have ankle surgery, the fast bowler hasn’t played cricket since November 2023. At the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, he has just resumed bowling. “A ton of tests are scheduled to occur. Three seamers aren’t played in the XI in India, but moving forward, we’ll need to talk about it in more detail.”