Suryakumar Yadav’s successor needs unanimity, can Gambhir-Agarkar see eye to eye?

File photo of India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. (AP) New Delhi: Suryakumar Yadav is woefully out of form and a problematic wrist has only made matters worse. It will be a hot topic of discussion when the men’s selection committee meets to pick the squads for the T20I series against Ireland and England. It is rare for the captaincy to be debated months after leading the country to the T20 World Cup title. But the move was in play as his bat has been quiet for too long and the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has a reputation for keeping an eye on the future. The 35-year-old has not been selected in the odds for the Asian Games later this year, so the ax is now more about the ‘when’ than the ‘why’.The small faction feels he deserves some leeway after becoming only the third player to lead India to a T20 World Cup title. But most believe a leadership change must happen now for the 2028 LA Games and that year’s T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see how Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir – two strong voices in the leadership – align on the succession plan. It wasn’t that difficult when they picked Surya to succeed Rohit Sharma in 2024. He introduced Hardik Pandya who looked like the obvious choice before the management decided on Surya.Will it be so straightforward now? It does not appear, because the room could be divided into successors. As reported by TimesofIndia.com last month, Shreyas Iyer was identified as one of the candidates to lead the white-ball line-up and his promotion to the ODI line-up was just the first step of the plan. He is being looked at as the T20I captain, slotting in at No.4 in place of the struggling Surya, but how it goes with Gambhir remains to be seen.It is understood that the lack of unanimity on the matter could delay the succession plans, but it is imperative for Indian cricket to find the right direction and put the ideal candidate at the helm. The situation puts the spotlight firmly on Gambhir and Agarkar. The two have not been on the same page over certain past decisions, including the challenges of the Playing XI and the lack of specialists for the longest format. While constructive differences are healthy for any environment, the main stakeholders hope that both the head coach and the head selector can be on the same page on this crucial matter.

Suryakumar Yadav’s record as India’s T20I captain. (Graphic: TimesofIndia.com)

“Ajit is a very strong chief selector, one of the strongest he has been in charge. He has taken some tough calls with a view to the future and along with his panel he has a plan in place for the T20I captaincy and the way forward. That is why Shreyas was named vice-captain in ODIs and was in the squad for the last bilateral World Cup series which was played well before the T2 and World Cup,” he says.

Should Suryakumar Yadav be replaced as T20I captain for the upcoming series?

“Now is it the coach’s choice? Or does he have someone else in mind? And will that someone be the selectors’ choice? Those are important points of discussion. Axar Patel was the vice-captain for the World Cup, Ishan Kishan has the age, form and leadership qualities; and then there is Sanju Samson’s name. Sanju Samson’s name is being floated around. Samson has his timeliness bias but his key source is not happy.”

Ajit is a very strong head selector, one of the strongest he has been in charge. He has taken some tough calls with an eye on the future and has a T20I captaincy plan in place along with his panel

Resource on India Team Selections

Voters followed the process and included a fair share of instinctive calls, but produced no wild surprises. Performance, consistency and longevity were the key metrics. Suryakumar getting a pink slip is a no-brainer, but choosing his successor will require unanimity – something that hasn’t always been the case with Gambhir and Agarkar.