What is Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy record for India in T20Is?
Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the captain of the Indian T20I team that will tour Sri Lanka later this month. The 33-year-old has twice captained India in the shortest format, against Australia and South Africa in late 2023.
Suryakumar Yadav will take over from Rohit Sharma, who recently hung up his boots after winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup last month. The Mumbai batter has pipped Hardik Pandya to the role, who was considered a hot favorite to be named as the captain for India in the shortest format. It was worth noting that the Mumbai Indians captain was appointed as Rohit's deputy in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.
Suryakumar Yadav is no stranger to captaincy. Having led India in seven T20Is spanning two series, he has won one series and has drawn another.
In the first series against Australia, he won the first two games comprehensively, with India chasing down a big total in the first, whilst winning the second game defending a huge score. His first defeat came in the third match of the series, where Australia managed to chase down a target of 223 runs. He led India to back-to-back wins to seal the series 4-1.
Suryakumar's second assignment was against South Africa, where the first game was washed out. In the second game, South Africa chased down a total of 152 before he led the young side from the front, scoring a century in the third game and drawing the series level 1-1, making it five wins in seven T20Is.
Suryakumar Yadav will be tasked with leading the transition period for India in T20Is after Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the format. He will be teaming up with his former Kolkata Knight Riders captain and current Indian coach, Gautam Gambhir for his first assignment as a full-time captain of India. As the Indian captain, Suryakumar Yadav has a win percentage of 71.42%.
Shubman Gill to be vice-captain across formats for the Sri Lanka tour
In other major changes, Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour across formats. Fresh from the series win against Zimbabwe, the Gujarat Titans skipper will be serving as deputy to Rohit Sharma in the ODIs and to Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is. It is of note that the 24-year-old has been favored over Hardik Pandya as the deputy of the Indian team.
Team India will tour Sri Lanka for three ODIs and three T20Is. The T20I series will commence on July 27, with the ODI series commencing on August 2.
The squads for both the series are listed below:
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.