Suryakumar Yadav is all set to begin his first assignment as a full-time T20I captain, with India slated to face Sri Lanka in a three-match contest, starting July 27 in Pallekele. He has previously led the Mumbai team in domestic matches, while his only experience of captaining the Indian side was last year when India won 4-1 against Australia at home, before being held to a 1-1 draw in South Africa.

The Indian team already reached Sri Lanka on Monday afternoon and scheduled their first practice session on Tuesday, at the Pallekele International Stadium, with new head coach Gautam Gambhir overlooking the proceedings.

Ahead of the start of the training session, the official broadcaster for the series, Sony Sports Network, posted a video of Suryakumar and Mohammed Siraj walking down the stairs. As they began jogging, the India captain turned back at Axar Patel and cautioned him not to hurry down the stairs with his kit bag. He then looked at the camera and cheekily remarked, “Teesre chauthe over ke baad tu hi dikhega (You will be bowling after overs 3 or 4).”

It would only mean that India are expecting a spin-friendly track in Pallekele. Moreover, Axar has been used more often in the powerplay even by previous India T20I captain Rohit Sharma, as seen during the T20 World Cup campaign last month.

In the last 13 T20 matches played at the venue over the previous two years, spinners (67) have picked lesser wickets than pacers (77), but have been more economical (7.73) at the venue

Suryakumar's remark also confirmed that Axar will be present in the playing XI for the first T20I against Sri Lanka. This implies that there could be a toss-up between all-rounder Washington Sundar, who won the Player of the Series award for his heroics in the Zimbabwe tour earlier this month, and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who has been picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav.

The series will also mark the beginning of Gambhir's tenure as the head coach of the men's team. This will be followed by a three-match ODI series, between August 3 and 7 in Colombo, which will mark the start of India's preparation for the Champions Trophy.