Suryakumar Yadav short-term captain and Shubman Gill learning on the job, says Scott Styris

Scott Styris feels that Suryakumar Yadav is a short-term T20I captain for India as the young Shubman Gill learns about captaincy while being his deputy as well. However, in a big change after the T20 World Cup win, Suryakumar Yadav was given the reins as captain of the side with Gill being his vice-captain, starting with the tour of Sri Lanka. This was one of the major decisions made by Gautam Gambhir who has taken over the head coach role recently.

Styris, in an exclusive interaction with Indiatoday.in, shared his thoughts on both the decisions made by the Indian team management as well. He also said that he has no issues with Gill being named as the vice-captain and feels he will learn the job while playing as well. However, Styris feels that these decisions mean Gambhir doesn’t see a natural leader in the T20I side at the moment and Suryakumar Yadav is being used as a transitional captain as well.

“I have no problem with Shubman Gill being vice-captain” – Scott Styris

He said, “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.  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.”

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“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,” again said Styris.

Smart decision to make Suryakumar captain

Styris, meanwhile, said that he likes the fact that Suryakumar Yadav was made captain and feels it was a clever decision. He also feels it gives the team management time to find the next long-term captain, whether it is Gill or someone else.

“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,” concluded Scott Styris.