Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris has termed Suryakumar Yadav a short-term option for T20I captaincy under new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Styris does not see Suryakumar leading India for a long time the format and feels Shubman Gill has been made vice-captain to take over the reins later.
"Look, a vice-captain is just someone who is learning all about the leadership and how to run a cricket team. I have no problem with Shubman Gill being vice captain. He captains in the IPL. He captains a lot of big names, so there's not an issue with that," Styris said in a conversation with India Today.
"It's more the long term picture. What it says to me, with Hardik Pandya not being captain, all the senior players retiring. Maybe Gautham Gambhir just doesn't see a natural leader at the moment, which is why he's gone for for Suryakumar Yadav as almost like a bridge or a temporary captain for a year or two. And then maybe Gill steps in in that role in a couple of years time.
"Shubman Gill has a lot of growth yet to do in his own game. We've seen some really high quality performances for India, but it's now about consistency across those three formats. So it's almost like letting him learn how to be a captain. We've got an eye on you in the future, but at the moment we still just want you to concentrate on your cricket.”
Buying time before next long-term captain
While Styris sees Suryakumar as a short-term option, he also feels that the management is buying time till they find a long term captain.
"I think he's a short-term option. I don't think Gambhir has a natural captain amongst the players that he has right now. So, he's buying himself time as to who will be the next long-term captain."
"You know, someone like Gill I think could do the job for 10 years for India, but he's not quite ready right now, so I think it was a really smart decision to bring in someone with a bit more experience. Someone like Suryakumar make him captain. If he does a decent enough job, then he might be the captain at the next T20 World Cup. And then after that, you can look at Gill or any of the other potential options around. But yeah, I think it's a really clever decision," said the 49-year-old.
Suryakumar’s T20I captaincy numbers
Suryakumar has led India as stand-in captain in seven T20Is out of which India have won five. He will begin as Rohit Sharma’s successor when India take on Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-T20I series on July 27.
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