Suryakumar Yadav remains an enigma. Why? Because as bloody good a batter he is in T20Is, SKY remains a mystery in ODI cricket. Look no further than his numbers in the 50-overs format – 773 runs from 37 matches at an average of 25.76 with four fifties. The team management took the risk with him in the World Cup, and while it paid off during the initial stages, it backfired when it mattered the most as Surya struggled with a painstaking 18 off 28 balls.

As it turns out, it was Surya's last ODI and going by what BCCI chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had to say about SKY, he could have well played his final one-day international ever. At 33, Surya is a national treasure when it comes to T20 cricket – he is now even the captain of the team – but his ODI career may have seen the end of the road. With KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer back in the scheme of things, it is unlikely that Surya will again feature in an ODI for India. More importantly, it is unlikely that Surya will not feature in next year's Champions Trophy.

"Suryakumar Yadav was a part of the team that reached the final of the last (2023 ODI) World Cup. He was part of this (2024 T20) World Cup as well, the (David Miller) catch he took but he is now not part of the ODI team," former India opener Aakash Chopra said.

Suryakumar Yadav remains an enigma. Why? Because as bloody good a batter he is in T20Is, SKY remains a mystery in ODI cricket. Look no further than his numbers in the 50-overs format – 773 runs from 37 matches at an average of 25.76 with four fifties. The team management took the risk with him in the World Cup, and while it paid off during the initial stages, it backfired when it mattered the most as Surya struggled with a painstaking 18 off 28 balls.

As it turns out, it was Surya's last ODI and going by what BCCI chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had to say about SKY, he could have well played his final one-day international ever. At 33, Surya is a national treasure when it comes to T20 cricket – he is now even the captain of the team – but his ODI career may have seen the end of the road. With KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer back in the scheme of things, it is unlikely that Surya will again feature in an ODI for India. More importantly, it is unlikely that Surya will not feature in next year's Champions Trophy.

"Suryakumar Yadav was a part of the team that reached the final of the last (2023 ODI) World Cup. He was part of this (2024 T20) World Cup as well, the (David Miller) catch he took but he is now not part of the ODI team," former India opener Aakash Chopra said.

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"A question was asked about that and he said that Suryakumar Yadav is a phenomenal and special player but he will be seen playing in T20Is only and is currently not being considered in ODIs. So if he is not being considered and the Champions Trophy is about to come, you can assume that Suryakumar Yadav won't be seen there."

SKY out, Gill in

The BCCI and team management gave Suryakumar ample changes to prove his mettle in ODIs, but despite a flickering ray of hope, Surya the ODI batter was deemed a failed experiment. He batting prowess is unmatched in T20Is, but the same remains a bit of a case study in the 50-overs format. Surya was initially tried at 4, before being pushed down to 6, but neither worked.

The one face that will be present in India's Playing XI at the Champions Trophy however is Shubman Gill. The 24-year-old, who could not make the cut in India's final 15 at the T20 World Cup was labelled as a 'three-format-player' by Agarkar during Monday's press conference in Mumbai and with Gill appointed captain for the tour of Zimbabwe and later given the vice-captaincy of the team in both ODIs and T20Is, the opener seems has become a vital cog in the wheel.

" He (Agarkar) said that he (Gill) is a three-format player and Gautam (Gambhir) believes it's not a bad thing if he can get three-format players. They have also liked his captaincy in the IPL and against Zimbabwe, and that's why he has been made the ODI vice-captain," added Chopra.

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