The national selectors have opted for stability as they announced Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain and handing over the vice-captaincy to Shubman Gill in both T20Is and ODIs for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka later this month. Hardik Pandya was relieved of vice-captaincy in both formats.
The selectors have also convinced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who recently announced their retirements from T20I cricket, to travel to Sri Lanka for the three ODIs.
The selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, has been firm on its stand of having a stable leadership for the white-ball teams. “The selectors and Gambhir have been very clear with their plans. With Hardik being prone to injuries, they felt that it would be wise to have someone who is focused on just the T20 format. Gambhir thinks very highly of Surya’s game awareness,” a BCCI source said.
It was also felt that the stalwarts like Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah needed to be in the team environment more with the ICC Champions Trophy being about six months away. Bumrah however, has been rested to manage his work load. Kuldeep Yadav has also been rested for the T20Is.
Interestingly, Ravindra Jadeja, who too announced his T20I retirement after the T20 World Cup, has not been named in the ODI squad. While no official reason has been given for it, sources say that the selectors and team management feel that it is time to find alternatives for Jadeja. Jadeja’s batting has not been up to the mark in white ball cricket for a while. With Axar Patel evolving as a potent replacement, Washington Sundar has been named in both squads. Shreyas Iyer, who lost his central contract earlier this year, has been drafted back into the squad.
T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman 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), Shubman 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.
