Dravid, not Gambhir, behind Suryakumar Yadav being named T20I skipper? Here's what former coach says

Recently, Suryakumar Yadav pipped Hardik Pandya to become India's new T20I captain. Ahead of India's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, which gets underway on Saturday (Jul27), new head coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that they named Surya the new captain -- after Rohit Sharma's T20I retirement --due to Hardik's injury concerns. Paras Mhambrey, who recently stepped down as thebowling coach of the recently-resigned Rahul Dravid-led coaching staff, has now revealed that Dravid had also considered Surya as a T20I skipper during his tenure.

Hardik served as Rohit's deputy in white-ball formats since early 2023. Many thought he was next in line to take over after Hitman called it quits from the format after India's T20 World Cup triumph last month. However, Surya got the nod ahead of Gambhir-Agarkar. Mhambrey hasrevealed that even Dravid had Surya in mind as the next T20I skipper.

The ex-bowling coach told HT, "First and foremost when you pick a captain, you expect the captain to play all the games in that format. We, the coaches and selectors, have always felt that here's a guy (Surya) who's gonna have a long future in the T20 format. He has mastered that skill. One of the best in this format. He and Klaasen are maybe one or two in T20Is now based on their current form. Just the pure impact he has on winning games for India is phenomenal."

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'After Rohit and Virat,we have Surya, who is experienced and closer toyoungsters'

Mhambrey further mentioned, "He's been with the team. I've seen him interact with the young guys. On one hand, we had Rohit and Virat, guys who are stalwarts, and then we have Surya, who is experienced but probably even closer to the youngsters. He is very friendly with everyone. He has that respect from the younger lot. The youngsters need to interact with him, he's good at it." He added, "So, has a good bond with everyone in the team. He has come up through the ranks, so he has a lot of experience and is a smart cricketer."

Surya has been a force to reckon with ever since making his debut in T20Is in 2021. So far, he has 2,340runs (third-most amongst Indians), including four centuries,in 68games at a strike rate of 167.74. In 2022, when Dravid had just taken over as India's head coach, Surya was in sublime form and ended with 1,164 runs (mostin the calendar year) in 31 games with a strike rate of 187.43. Thus, during Dravid's run, the Mumbai Indians (MI) batter cemented his T20I spot.

Ahead of the SL tour, Agarkar also told in a press conferencethathe got'feedback from the dressing room' before naming the new T20I captain. Thus, theDravid-led coaching staff might have also played a role in Surya'spromotion.

Surya-led India will kick off their three-match T20I series versus Sri Lanka on Saturday in Pallekele. All three games will be held in Pallekele before Rohit-led India face the Lankans in three ODIs, in Colombo.