Camaraderie With Gautam Gambhir Will Help Suryakumar Yadav To Grow As Leader: Pragyan Ojha

Following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from shortest format, Suryakumar Yadav was handed over the captaincy duties for the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha described ‘street-smart’ Suryakumar Yadav as one of the good cricketing brains in the circuit currently and stated his camaraderie with Gautam Gambhir will make him grow as a leader. India are set to begin a new T20I era under new captain Suryakumar and new head coach Gambhir who replaced Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid respectively.

Following India’s T20 World Cup win, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja called it quits from the shortest format of the game. With Hardik Pandya having fitness issues, the BCCI went with Suryakumar to lead the side. Notably, the right-hander had led India in eight T20Is before the Sri Lanka series with the Men in Blue winning in five of them.

Also his relationship with Gambhir paved way for Suryakumar for the leadership role. The duo had worked together at Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. “When you talk about Surya, he is a street smark guy and in T20I format you need a street-smart guy to take up the job because now things are changing,” former spinner Ojha told India.com during a virtual interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network.

“But how it (his captaincy tenure) unfolds, how he does well, that depends on how long he will be the captain,” added Ojha, who has 144 international wickets to his name. Asked about whether Suryakumar has the potential to be India’s all-format captain in future, Ojha sounded optimistic.

“If he does really and if he gets to play the other two formats as well, then maybe he will give himself a chance to become an all-format captain. I think that’s a far-fetched dream right now. In T20I format, he is one of the good brains, especially the camaraderie he has with Gautam Gambhir will help him grow as a leader,” added the 37-year-old, who has shared the same dressing room with Suryakumar at Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League.

Having performed well in the past few months, Ruturaj Gaikwad missed on the tour of Sri Lanka in either of the white-ball squads. In fact, Gaikwad scored a 77 not out and 49 while batting at No.3 in the recently-concluded Zimbabwe series that India won 4-1.

Asked if he considers Gaikwad to be a potential No.3 in T20Is for India considering Kohli has retired now, Ojha was clear in his answer. “Absolutely. When you talk about Rutu, I think he has been brilliant. He is one of the flawless batters I would say in any format.

“If someone has followed him domestic cricket, you would see the temperament that he carries. When you talk about Indian cricket, when you talk about the playing XI, sometimes few players get more opportunities while few get less and that’s always been the case.

“It is upto him how he takes these opportunities. When you look at him, he looks a very calm and composed guy. And if he maintains this and if he works on himself, at some point he will get his chances. Once he gets his chances, he will have to make sure that he cements his place. That will be his challenge,” Ojha said. India will start their T20I series against Sri Lanka on Saturday.