BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar made an honest admission about Suryakumar Yadav‘s omission from the ODI team despite appointing him as the new T20I captain. The BCCI made some bold decisions ahead of the Sri Lanka tour by naming Suryakumar Yadav the new T20I captain over Hardik Pandya, but he failed to make the cut for the ODI team.
Suryakumar Yadav has not featured in ODIs for since the 2023 World Cup final, where India suffered a defeat against Australia in Ahmedabad. The flamboyant batter had an underwhelming tournament with the bat; he faced flak for his poor shot selection in the final, and following that, several questions were raised over his ODI batting credentials. Meanwhile, Agarkar made it clear that Suryakumar Yadav is not in India’s ODI scheme of things, and he is currently seen as only a T20I player.
Ajit Agarkar speaks openly on Suryakumar Yadav’s omission from ODI setup of India.
The former India pacer Ajit Agarkar in fact said that Surya’s name was not even discussed for the ODI squad as the team management is content with Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the middle-order.
“No, we haven’t discussed Surya (for ODIs) at this point. Shreyas (Iyer) is back, KL (Rahul) is back. They have had great World Cups (ODI). Rishabh (Pant) is back as well. So there is some real quality through that middle order. So at this point Surya is a T20I player,” Agarkar told in India’s pre-departure press conference.
Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI numbers are a complete contrast to T20Is. He has played 37 ODIs for India, scoring 773 runs at an underwhelming average of 25.76. The BCCI chief selector asserted that Suryakumar Yadav was the deserving candidate for the T20I captaincy, and the BCCI got good feedback about him from the dressing room before elevating him to the big role.
“Why Surya was made captain? Because he is one of the deserving candidates. The one we know has been around the dressing room over the last one year, you get feedback from the dressing room a lot. He has got a good cricketing brain and he is still one of the best T20 batters in the world,” Agarkar said during the joint press conference.
Former Indian batter now star commentator Aakash Chopra commented his views on this decision of omission of Suryakumar Yadav from ODI scheme of things ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Aakash Chopra reacts on possibility of Suryakumar Yadav’s place in India’s squad for 2025 Champions Trophy
Aakash Chopra reckons Suryakumar Yadav is not in India’s scheme of things for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The middle-order batter has been named the Men in Blue’s captain for the T20I series against Sri Lanka but has not been selected for the ODIs.
India will face the Lankan Lions in three T20Is followed by as many ODIs, with the first game scheduled in Pallekele on July 27. In the pre-departure press conference, the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar stated that SKY, as he is fondly called, wasn’t considered for the longer white-ball format.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the responses given by the head coach Gautam Gambhir and Agarkar in the press conference. As for the latter’s reply about Surya Kumar’s non-selection in ODIs, he said
“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.”
“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,” the former India opener added.
On the flip side, Chopra noted that Shubman Gill is a virtual certainty in India’s Champions Trophy squad, considering he has also been given a leadership role.
“However, Shubman Gill will be seen there. 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,” he observed.
Gill has been named the vice-captain for both the T20I and ODI squads for the Sri Lanka tour. The opener led India to a 4-1 win in the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya being ignored for India’s T20I captaincy
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Suryakumar Yadav stole a march over Hardik Pandya in India’s T20I captaincy race due to the latter’s fitness concerns.
“Hardik Pandya hasn’t been made the captain in T20Is because fitness is an important aspect. They want the captain to play all cricket and shouldn’t take too many breaks. So in such a scenario, Suryakumar Yadav jumped ahead of him in the race. However, Hardik Pandya is an important player, he has a huge stature in Indian cricket and there are expectations from him,” he said
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that Ravindra Jadeja’s non-selection for the ODIs doesn’t imply the end of the road for him in the format.
“He (Agarkar) said that they should have explained at the time of selecting the team that he (Jadeja) hasn’t been dropped. There was some speculation, some Instagram handles went overdrive and said Jaddu was seen for the last time in colored clothes, and would only be seen in Chennai’s team and not in India’s ODI team,” Chopra stated.
“However, the coach and chairman of selectors have said that there is nothing to be taken tension about, he has been rested because there is a lot of Test cricket in the near future. It’s actually continuous. First Bangladesh, then New Zealand and Australia. They have given him a break. So it’s not that his chances of playing ODIs have ended,” he added.
Chopra opined that Kuldeep Yadav might have similarly been rested for the T20Is as he is now an integral part of India’s Test side. The left-arm wrist-spinner has been picked in the ODI squad but hasn’t been chosen for the shortest format.
Suryakumar Yadav has already arrived in Sri Lanka with the Indian team, where they will play three T20 Internationals and as many ODIs against the hosts starting July 27. It will also mark the start of a new era, with Gautam Gambhir starting his tenure as the new head coach of the team.