The head coach if team India, Gautam Gambhir, had his first meeting with BCCI selectors on the afternoon of Tuesday. According to a report, the meeting was called by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and included Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI members as well. The meeting was held online and Gambhir attended the meeting via video call from his home in New Delhi. The report claimed that it was a ‘positive meeting’ and the report further added that there was a ‘robust exchange’ of ideas.
The report claimed that Gambhir gave his inputs for the team for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The report claimed that ‘strong commitment’ was the ‘overarching theme’ of the meeting.
Also, according to a report in news agency pti, there is a strong possibility of Suryakumar Yadav becoming captain of the Indian cricket team in theT20Is.
Though Pandya has made himself available for the shortest format games against Sri Lanka this month, it has came out that Suryakumar, who captained 8 T20Is against Australia and South Africa last year is the preferred choice of Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.
Earlier this evening, both Gambhir and Agarkar spoke to Pandya about this change of plan and explained to him that a long-term option was being finalised due to stability concerns.
The T20 leadership role got a vacancy after Rohit Sharma bid farewell to his international career in the shortest format after India’s World Cup Triumph last month.
Pandya, one of the heroes of that victory, will be taking a break from the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka due to ‘personal reasons’. The T20Is against Sri Lanka will be held from July 27 to 30 in Pallakele, followed by the ODIs from August 2 to 7 in Colombo.
The squad for the series is expected to be announced in the next couple of days.
“Hardik Pandya was India’s T20 vice captain under Rohit Sharma. He is completely fir and available for the three-match T20I series and was supposed to lead the side but there is a very strong feeling that Sky would be the potential leader not only for the Sri Lanka series but till the 2026 World Cup,” a senior BCCI source said on conditions of their identity to be anonymous.
