Scott Styris: Suryakumar Yadav’s Captaincy a Bridge for Shubman Gill’s Future Leadership Role

July 27, 2024 0 606

Scott Styris believes that Suryakumar Yadav’s role as India’s T20I captain is temporary, intended to prepare Shubman Gill, who is still developing his game, for future leadership.

Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has expressed that Suryakumar Yadav’s appointment as India’s T20I captain is a short-term solution, with the ultimate goal of grooming Shubman Gill for the role in the future.

Suryakumar Yadav will begin his captaincy tenure on July 27 in the first of three T20Is against Sri Lanka. Styris believes Suryakumar’s appointment is designed to act as a bridge, providing Gill with time to develop his leadership skills. Gill, who already has captaincy experience in the IPL, is seen as a potential long-term leader for the Indian team. Styris also noted that Gill recently replaced Hardik Pandya as the T20I vice-captain and was also named vice-captain in ODIs under Rohit Sharma.

“Look, a vice-captain is just someone who is learning all about 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 told India Today in an interview.

“It’s more the long-term picture. What it says to me, with Hardik Pandya not being captain, all the senior players retiring. Maybe Gautam Gambhir just doesn’t see a natural leader at the moment, which is why he’s gone 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,” he continued.

“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,” Styris added.

Styris further added that new head coach Gautam Gambhir made a smart decision in appointing Suryakumar Yadav as a short-term T20I captain due to the absence of a natural leader in the squad. He believes Suryakumar’s experience makes him a suitable temporary captain, allowing Gill more time to develop.

“I think he’s a short-term option. I don’t think Gambhir has a natural captain among the players that he has right now. So, he’s buying himself time as to who will be the next long-term captain,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

“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,” he concluded.