Former Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey revealed why they decided to back Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I skipper after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Hardik Pandya was expected to be India’s new T20I captain but the selectors and the coaching staff decided to back SKY.

Yadav is the number one batter in T20Is and Mhambrey, who observed the Mumbai batter from close quarters, said SKY has all the leadership qualities.

The 33-year-old has performed consistently in the shortest format and also did well when he was given the captaincy onus for the South Africa and Australia series in 2023, winning five out of the seven matches.

“First and foremost, when you pick a captain, you expect the captain to play all the games in that format. We, the coaches and selectors, have always felt that here’s a guy who’s gonna have a long future in the T20 format. He has mastered that skill. One of the best in this format. He and Klaasen are maybe one or two in T20Is now based on their current form. Just the pure impact he has on winning games for India is phenomenal,” Mhambrey told Hindustan Times.

The former bowling coach added that Suryakumar Yadav has the youngster’s respect and the young players need to interact with him.

“He’s been with the team. I’ve seen him interact with the young guys. On one hand, we had Rohit and Virat, guys who are stalwarts, and then we have Surya, who is experienced but probably even closer to the youngsters. He is very friendly with everyone. He has that respect from the younger lot. The youngsters need to interact with him, he’s good at it. So, has a good bond with everyone in the team. He has come up through the ranks, so he has a lot of experience and is a smart cricketer,” the former India bowling coach, whose tenure ended after the T20 World Cup, said.

SKY kicked off his captaincy stint on a high as India defeated Sri Lanka convincingly by 43 runs in the first T20I at Pallekele on Saturday.