Childhood coach Ashok Aswalkar opens up on Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy appointment

Ashok Aswalkar, Suryakumar Yadav (Pic: File Pic)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently announced the squads for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. The "Men in Blue" will play three T20Is and as many ODI matches against the Island nation.

Ahead of the T20I series against the Lankan Lions, as Rohit Sharma decided to hand boots after his T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, Hardik Pandya being the vice-captain was the obvious choice for the captaincy role. But premier batsman Suryakumar Yadav emerged as a dark horse in the contention list. The swashbuckling right-hander will lead the Indian pack for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

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Speaking on the appointment as captain, Suryakumar Yadav's childhood coach Ashok Aswalkar said, "I had messaged him the afternoon saying that you would get a big message today and in the evening when we heard the news, I felt very proud...I feel very happy...captaincy is a little different role...he played World Cup 2024 with great players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. By playing with such great cricketers, we get to learn a lot..."

Shubman Gill will be his deputy in the Sri Lanka series. Rinku Singh who debuted for India during the recently concluded T20I series against Zimbabwe has also secured his place in the squad.

Apart from this, skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their availability for the ODI series. Shreyas Iyer who was snubbed from BCCI's central contract also regained his spot in the squad. One of India's most stylish batsmen KL Rahul will act as the second wicketkeeper-batsman alongside Rishabh Pant in the ODI series against the Island nation.

The white-ball series between India and Sri Lanka will begin from July 27 with the first T20I match scheduled to be played at the Pallekele Stadium.

IND vs SL, T20I and ODI squads:

T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.