When Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20 internationals, Indian cricket had to ask itself the question: Who is going to be their next T20 captain? The common belief was Hardik Pandya, as he was the one to captain India when Rohit did not play T20Is for a year after the 2022 T20 World Cup. But there was a surprise in store. Instead of persisting with Hardik, the selectors chose Suryakumar Yadav. There was only one explanation behind it – Hardik's fitness and new head coach Gautam Gambhir's reluctance to work with a captain who had a history of getting injured.

But in between, another captaincy call came as a bit of a surprise with Shubman Gill given charge of India's tour of Zimbabwe. The move was startling because Gill was preferred over Ruturaj Gaikwad, but BCCI’s faith in Gill was evident when he was named India's vice-captain in T20Is and Rohit's deputy in ODIs, clearly singling him out as the future captain of the Indian team. Gill pipped a couple of other contenders – the returning trio of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. But the reason why the board narrowed down on Gill was perfectly summed up by the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.

"Rishabh has been out for a long time. You need to get him playing. That's the first thing. He will be key as a player. Hasn't played a lot of cricket. We have seen what he can do – has won Test series almost out of his own bat – so we want him back playing first. Don't want to burden somebody who is just coming back after a year out of the game. KL has not been part of T20 for a little while. You look at the road ahead – preferably the next T20 World Cup [in 2026], we have got the chance to reset things. We have a bit more time," he said on Monday ahead of the team's departure for Sri Lanka.

Gill a three-format player for India, says Agarkar

Another deal-breaker that acted in Gill’s favour was the selectors’ belief that in the 24-year-old, they see an all-format player, despite the fact that he didn’t feature in India’s 15-member T20 World Cup winning squad in the USA and West Indies. But he was still the best choice because the BCCI could not afford a last-minute crisis which could have doomed Indian cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup. Hardik, India's ex vice-captain had to be on the sidelines for a good four months, almost risking India a captain before Rohit saved the day.

"This time with the T20 World Cup around, when Hardik got injured, it was a bit of a challenge. At that time, Rohit wasn't playing. He was around and we were lucky that Rohit was available to lead. We don't want that situation again. Shubman is the guy we feel again as he is a three-format player, and he has shown quality over the last year or so. And we have heard from the dressing room," said Agarkar.

"You try and have somebody who can also learn from a couple of the senior guys that are there. Surya in this instance or Rohit who's still around so we don't face the same challenges (that) suddenly (you are) trying to look for a captain in case there are injuries or loss of form somewhere. He's shown some decent leadership qualities. We want to try and get him the experience that he can put forward. There are no guarantees in life but at this point, that's the thought."