"We wanted the one who is available all the time..:" Ajit Agarkar explained why Suryakumar Yadav was picked as the new T20I captain over Hardik Pandya

Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors for the BCCI cleared out all the doubts regarding the player selections and the new captain of the T20I format during Gautam Gambhir's first press conference as the head coach. BCCI recently announced Suryakumar Yadav as the new captain of the T20I team. The top-ranked T20I batter was selected over experienced star all-rounder Hardik Pandya to succeed Rohit Sharma, who retired from the format following India's T20 World Cup victory.

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Hardik was expected to take the captaincy role after serving as vice-captain during the T20 World Cup. Despite his captaincy experience with the Gujarat Titans in the IPL, where he led the team to two finals and a trophy in their debut season, couldn't be the captain of team India due to his unavailability. BCCI prefers someone who is available most of the time. 

"Regarding Hardik, he's still a very important player for us. Fitness has been a challenge for him... Then it becomes difficult for the coach or selectors... Fitness is a clear challenge and we want someone who is available more often than not....Having said that, we believe Surya has the qualities necessary to be a captain....We also feel we can manage Hardik better, we've seen what he can do with the bat and ball in the World Cup... We speak to every player, about whether their role has changed. And yeah we've spoken to him," Ajit Agarkar said in the press conference.

Ajit Agarkar said, "Hardik Pandya is a very important player, but fitness is clearly one challenge and we want someone to be available all the time". pic.twitter.com/kfEo5q8O7F

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 22, 2024

The chairman of selectors for the BCCI also explained why they decided to go with Suryakumar Yadav as the new captain of the T20I format.

"Suryakumar Yadav was made the captain because he is one of the most deserving candidates. We have been getting the feedback from the dressing room. He has got a great cricket brain, he is one of the best T20 batters in the world, and the one who is likely to play all the games. We wanted the one who is available all the time. Surya has got the necessary qualities that you need to succeed as a captain," Agarkar said.

Ajit Agarkar on selecting Shubman Gill as the new vice-captain

"Shubman Gill is a three-format player, we want someone who can learn. We don’t want a situation where we start looking for a captain when injuries/loss of form happens," Agarkar said.

The Gujarat Titans skipper recently led the team to a 4-1 victory in the T20I series in Zimbabwe. He is young, talented, and has lots of time to learn. This was BCCI's thought on appointing him as the new vice-captain. 

Read Also: Suryakumar Yadav as captain: Stats and previous records

Agarkar cleared out the doubts regarding Ravindra Jadeja and some other players being dropped out

"Jadeja was not dropped from ODIs. The decision was taken considering the Test workload coming up soon after. We should have clarified that after selection. He's very much in the scheme of things. Just that both him and Axar couldn’t have been in the XI for all games and with 10 Tests coming up Jadeja was given rest," Agarkar said.

Two of the top-performing players in the recently concluded Zimbabwe T20I series did not find a spot in the squad for India's tour of Sri Lanka. Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who batted in the top order in the last T20I series were not selected for the T20I team despite being two of the top players. Agarkar clarified why they were dropped from the Sri Lanka tour squad.

"Any player who is dropped will feel hard done by. Look at Rinku, he performed well ahead of the T20 World Cup, but couldn't make the cut. We can only pick 15," Agarkar said.