Mumbai, India

A new era in Indian Cricket begins under head coach Gautam Gambhir as the Men in Blue depart for Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many ODIs starting July 27. While Pallekele will host the T20Is, Colombo will be the venue for the three One-Dayers, beginning August 1. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, the first batch (T20I-bound players) departs for the Island nation.

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Gautam Gambhir led the pack, with newly-appointed batting coach Abhishek Nayar and the remainder of the backroom staff following him. Sanju Samson and Ravi Bishnoi entered the team bus as the squad left for Sri Lanka for the first away tour of the season.

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Meanwhile, Gautam and chief selector Ajit Agarkar attended the pre-tour presser, where both addressed several questions surrounding the future of stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Suryakumar’s role in white-ball cricket and the omission of Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

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While Gambhir addressed most questions, mainly around his relationship with Kohli and what he makes of the available talent pool, Agarkar revealed what he expects out of India’s ace T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav. Moreover, both explained why they opted for Suryakumar as the T20I captain ahead of the vice-captain, Hardik Pandya. 

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“He is one of the deserving candidates,” Agarkar said of Suryakumar Yadav. “He is one of the best T20 batters in the world. We feel that Surya has all the necessary qualities to be a good captain. We wanted a captain, who is likely to play all the games.”

“Surya has the necessary ability to lead the team. We wanted a captain who is around. We will see how he will do in two years time,” Agarkar continued.

Clearing the air on Surya’s role in the white-ball side, Agarkar affirmed that he is a batting mainstay in the shortest format and is not considered for ODIs, given Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant are back in the reckoning.

“At this point, Surya is being seen just as a T20 player, not being considered for ODIs,” Agarkar added.

Team India squads for Sri Lanka series –

ODI Squad - Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed and Harshit Rana.

T20I squad - Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), 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 and Mohammed Siraj.

(With inputs from agencies)