In the upcoming T20I series against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian cricket team.
With Rohit Sharma opting out and Hardik Pandya sidelined due to injury, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian cricket team in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. He previously captained the team in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, which they won. This has sparked discussions about Suryakumar being considered as one of the captaincy options for India in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, former India opener Aakash Chopra disagrees with this notion, stating that he doesn’t believe Suryakumar is among the potential captains.
“I am just looking ahead. Currently, Suryakumar Yadav is the captain of the Indian team in T20Is, but is he on your list of captains? He is probably the third captaincy choice even for the Mumbai Indians at the moment. Things have changed. He was the second choice until last year,” he mentioned on Jio Cinema.
Chopra further highlighted that with the addition of Hardik to Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar is now the third-choice for captaincy, with the all-rounder and Rohit being ahead in the order.
“He might have become the third choice of his franchise. He will be the Indian captain in South Africa for sure, will captain whenever Rohit doesn’t play, and might be the captain against Afghanistan. However, when it comes to the World Cup in 2024, I don’t see Surya as a captain,” he added.
The former Indian cricketer did praise Suryakumar for his captaincy in the series against Australia and specifically highlighted the way he managed his bowlers in the absence of a genuine sixth bowling option.
“He utilized the resources effectively even without employing a sixth bowler. Spin played an extremely crucial role. The series’ turning point was the eight overs of spin in each of the five games. The 40 overs of spin contributed significantly to winning the series. It’s a challenging task to determine when to bowl 40 overs of spin,” he explained.
