Former Gujarat batsman and current Baroda head coach Mukund Parmar, who coached the Suryakumar-led India U-23 team to Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup triumph at Singapore in 2013, stressed that the Mumbai cricketer has enough international exposure under his belt and is ready to take the leadership challenge. While former Mumbai U-23 coach Vilas Godbole, under whose guidance Suryakumar led Mumbai U-23 to the CK Nayudu Trophy triumph in 2011-12, felt the ICC No. 2 T20 batsman will be the perfect choice to replace Rohit Sharma as India’s T20 captain.  

Mukund Parmar and Vilas Godbole

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“Surya has got the experience of leading India U-23 as well as Mumbai senior team. He has leadership qualities. Secondly, he has been playing for India for long and has worked with [head coaches] Rahul Dravid and earlier Ravi Shastri. He knows the way forward. And now he will be with Gambhir,” Parmar told mid-day from Baroda on Wednesday.  

Suryakumar led India at the senior level in seven T20Is and emerged a winner in five of those games while two ended in defeat. In those seven matches he scored 300 runs at an average of 42.86. Even his fourth T20I century—100 off 56 balls versus South Africa at Johannesburg in 2023—was registered during India’s 106-run win when he was leading a team comprising Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh. 

Godbole felt Suryakumar is a better choice as skipper than Pandya or Shubman Gill, who helped the young Indian team beat Zimbabwe 4-1 in Harare last week. 
“In T20 cricket Surya walks in as a skipper. Gill is not sure whether he will get into the side. And the way Hardik led Mumbai Indians in IPL-17, it has gone against him,” Godbole remarked.   

Also Read: Suryakumar to lead India in T20Is against Sri Lanka in Hardik's absence: Sources

Godbole wants Suryakumar to be India’s T20 captain till the next T20 World Cup. 

Fine decision-maker

“Surya’s plus point is that he is an aggressive and positive cricketer. You need exactly the same type of cricketer and batsman in T20 cricket. Such a captain may get his decisions wrong, but he is very capable of taking decisions that are more important and I am very confident about his captaincy skills. His mindset is attacking just like the way he bats. I am sure he will be a successful captain too. He is the right person to shoulder the captaincy responsibility till the next T20 World Cup [in 2026],” added Godbole.  

When asked about his memories of Suryakumar’s leadership qualities during India’s win in Singapore, Parmar said: “A lot of players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Unmuk Chand were in the squad.”

Suryakumar scored 109 in five games and claimed two wickets in the final against Pakistan. “I think we played very well and he led from the front. Playing IPL for so many years, he has got exposure and I don’t see any problem with that [Suryakumar leading India].”

ICC T20I rankings: Surya holds on to No. 2 spot

Suryakumar Yadav is the highest placed Indian, in 2nd place, behind Australia’s Travis Head while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal occupies the sixth position in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings released, following India’s 4-1 series win over Zimbabwe. Ruturaj Gaikwad has dropped a place to the eighth position in the T20I batters list.