Gautam Gambhir's only regret during his captaincy stint at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was not using Suryakumar Yadav to the best of his potential. As Gambhir rightly mentioned in one of his previous interactions, a leader’s role is to identify the best potential and show it to the world. Due to KKR's combinations, Gambhir struggled to promote Suryakumar. Moving on from his KKR days both as captain and mentor, Gambhir has succeeded Rahul Dravid as India's new head coach.

Gambhir has the luxury of using Suryakumar as a top or middle-order batter in his first assignment. The two-time World Cup winner will make his coaching debut in the white-ball series against hosts Sri Lanka. With batting icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing their T20I retirements after the T20 World Cup, Gambhir's first task as head coach will be to pick the captain of his new-look side. Though Hardik Pandya is heavily tipped to replace Rohit, former world no.1 batter Suryakumar has emerged as a dark horse for the vacant captaincy post in T20Is.

Not Hardik, Suryakumar is the preferred choice

According to a report filed by PTI, Suryakumar is 'the preferred choice' of head coach Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar to lead India in T20Is. Gambhir and Agarkar had a formal discussion with Pandya about the leadership change this evening. Pandya was Rohit's deputy at the T20 World Cup and the vice-captain has captained India the most in the absence of the ex-all-format skipper. Pandya has been explained about Team India's requirements for a long-term captaincy option.

One captain till 2026 World Cup

As per recent reports, Hardik will take a break during the Sri Lanka tour due to "personal reasons". "Hardik Pandya was India's T20 vice-captain under Rohit Sharma. He is completely fit 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.

Hardik doesn't have any fitness issue

Hardik was earlier considered an automatic choice to lead India in T20Is. Hardik also succeeded Rohit as Mumbai Indians (MI) captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. However, the all-rounder capped off a forgetful season with MI in the cash-rich league last season. "Hardik's break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. He doesn't have any fitness issue as is being suggested in the media," the official said.

Suryakumar emerges as dark horse

Suryakumar captained India in seven T20Is during the 2023 season. The stand-in skipper was named the Player of the Series in South Africa. Suryakumar smashed 156 runs in the South Africa T20Is. After the T20 World Cup final, Suryakumar captained India in the Australia series. Suryakumar and Co. thrashed Australia 4-1 in the T20I series. The 33-year-old has amassed 2,340 runs in 68 T20Is for India. SKY has notched up four centuries and 19 half-centuries for India in the shortest format. The senior batter has a 71.42 win percentage as T20I captain.

Read Also: golf: shubhankar is keeping an 'open' mind