Suryakumar Yadav has been named India’s T20 captain, the country’s cricket board announced Thursday, following Rohit Sharma’s decision to step down from the shortest format after last month’s World Cup victory.
The 33-year-old Suryakumar will lead a 15-member T20 squad on a tour of Sri Lanka for three internationals starting on July 27 in Pallekele.
Shubman Gill, who recently led a second-string Indian side to a 4-1 T20 series victory in Zimbabwe, has been named vice-captain for both T20 and ODI matches.
Rohit will continue to captain the ODI team, which will face Sri Lanka in three matches on August 2, 4, and 7 at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium.
Virat Kohli will also return for the 50-over matches, while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remains absent from the tour after a demanding season.
Rohit and Kohli had initially decided to take a break but returned for the ODI matches as India begins preparations for next year’s Champions Trophy to be hosted by Pakistan.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was Rohit’s deputy in the T20 World Cup, was initially a frontrunner for the captaincy but was sidelined due to frequent injury issues.
Pandya, 30, suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup at home last year and was out of action until the start of this season’s Indian Premier League, where he returned to captain the Mumbai Indians. Pandya remains part of the T20 squad but is out of the ODI series, which will see the return of Shreyas Iyer, who previously lost his contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Suryakumar, an attacking middle-order batsman and India’s key player in the T20 format, was new coach Gautam Gambhir’s top choice, according to media reports.
Rohit, Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirements from the T20 format after India’s thrilling win over South Africa in the final last month in Barbados.
The match was also Rahul Dravid’s last as head coach, with Gambhir being appointed last week to build on the team’s World Cup success.
Suryakumar, who previously captained Mumbai in domestic cricket, led India to a 4-1 T20 series win over Australia last year and followed it up with a 1-1 result in South Africa.
T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), 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, Mohammed Siraj
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), 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, Harshit Rana
