Suryakumar Yadav spoke about his elevation to captain of India’s T20I team over Hardik Pandya after the World Cup in 2024. His appointment proved beneficial as the Men in Blue went on to win the global tournament at home.

After Rohit Sharma’s retirement after the 2024 edition, Hardik was the front-runner for the job as he had led the team for a long time.

However, the BCCI was not convinced and handed the captaincy to Suryakumar, with many linking the move to Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as head coach. Gambhir and Suryakumar played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

SKY revealed that the decision was taken before Gambhir’s arrival. According to him, the then BCCI secretary Jay Shah, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, former coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma were responsible for it.

“Jay bhai called me before the series against Sri Lanka and told me that they are giving the T20I captaincy to me. I was sure that Rohit bhai and Ajit bhai were behind the move. Gautam bhai came into the picture later,” Suryakumar told PTI.

“Rahul bhai also discussed about it with Jay bhai. They all decided that I should lead the team,” he added.

Suryakumar also hailed Jay Shah for his contribution to Indian cricket. “He is straightforward and treats everyone according to their personalities. He tells me that he has been following me since I made my Ranji Trophy debut in 2010-11. He was supportive when I made my debut for the Indian National Cricket Team. I even thanked him for giving me the opportunity. Every conversation with him has been positive,” he concluded.

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