"He's a bowler's captain.." Axar Patel shares insights on Suryakumar Yadav's T20I captaincy

Axar Patel played under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy in T20I series against Australia last year.

Axar Patel revealed the dressing room feedback for Suryakumar Yadav, who was recently named India’s T20I captain for the Sri Lanka tour. India are set to play three T20Is and three ODIs in Sri Lanka starting July 27.

Suryakumar Yadav had pipped Hardik Pandya to become the successor to T20 World Cup 2024-winning captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit had announced his retirement from the format after the T20 World Cup win, along with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

Many had thought that Hardik Pandya, who was the vice-captain of the T20 world Cup-winning Indian team, would succeed Rohit Sharma as captain in T20Is. Pandya was also an unofficial India T20I captain for a few months in 2022 and 2023, leading the team in Rohit’s absence.

However, Pandya got injured during World Cup 2023 and only returned to action in IPL 2024, leading to his selection in the Indian T20 World Cup squad. However, as per reports, what went against Hardik Pandya when it came to the captaincy of the Indian team was his availability and fitness issues.

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir cleared the air about Hardik Pandya being snubbed for India captaincy and said that they wanted a captain who will be available for all matches going forward.

Pandya’s fitness was highlighted as one of the factors limiting his availability. Fitness issues have hampered his availability for the Men in Blue, making it difficult for the Indian selectors to name him as regular skipper in T20I cricket.

Axar Patel gives great review of experience of sharing dressing room with Suryakumar Yadav

Agarkar emphasized that, while Pandya’s performances are crucial, the team needs a captain who will be available for the bulk of matches, and Suryakumar possesses all of the requisite characteristics for the post.

The chief selector also revealed that players’ feedback was also taken into consideration while naming Suryakumar Yadav as captain. All-rounder Axar Patel’s words on Suryakumar proved that the batter has a positive effect on other players in the locker room.

“I have spent a lot of time with Suryakumar. Surya bhai is a happy-go-lucky guy. He keeps the atmosphere lively, and loves doing mimicry and such fun stuff. I know he will keep the atmosphere cool,” Axar told ESPNCricinfo.

Axar was part of the team led by Suryakumar that featured in a five-match T20I series at home against Australia last year. Axar said that Surya is a bowler’s captain and gives them the freedom to set the field accordingly.

“I recently played a five-game T20I series when he was the captain. I know he is a bowler’s captain. He gives the bowlers the fields they ask for. And it was like that with me, too. I don’t think there will be a lot of change. We will get to know now, playing under his captaincy about his mindset. You can’t judge someone’s captaincy by one tour. When we play more, we will get to know more of his captaincy style,” he said.

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