Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has opened up on BCCI’s decision to appoint Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya. The Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar had earlier revealed that Pandya’s injury woes and workload management, went against him.

However, Sridhar noted that SKY will be on the park for India in almost every match and thus he was handed over the captaincy baton. Suryakumar led India to 3-0 series win against Sri Lanka in his maiden assignment as a full-time skipper. 

Furthermore, he led from the front, scoring 92 runs in three matches and was awarded Player of the Series.

R Sridhar said on Hindustan Times, “The very fact that Surya is someone who will be on the park for every match India is playing and not being bothered about workload monitoring is something which has tilted the scales in his favour, in terms of captaincy.

“Some of the matches he has captained India, when Rohit and Hardik were not available, has given confidence to the BCCI that he can do an excellent job.”

SKY led India in 2023 against South Africa and Australia and the team won five out of their seven matches.

Sridhar is also confident that Hardik Pandya will come back stronger just like the way he did in the T20 World Cup. The right-hander scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57 in the T20I showpiece. Pandya also scalped 11 wickets in eight matches at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.61.

“I am sure Hardik will come back. He has just won you a World Cup, bowling that two crucial overs between 16 and 20. The last over obviously was fabulous from an Indian perspective. If he has got niggles, he will come back like how he has before.”

Pandya is not part of India’s ODI squad for the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.