'I think he's a short-term option' - Scott Styris reflects on Suryakumar Yadav’s India captaincy

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) recently announced that star batter Suryakumar Yadav will be leading India’s T20I side against Sri Lanka in the ongoing white-ball series. With new head coach Gautam Gambhir taking over the reins of the Indian team, Suryakumar Yadav was named the skipper of the shortest format. 

However, former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris thinks that Suryakumar Yadav is only a short-term option for India, and also opined that Gautam Gambhir is looking towards Shubman Gill as India’s future captain in the long term. 

It is worth noting that Shubman Gill was appointed the vice-captain in both the T20I and ODI squads against Sri Lanka. Gill’s appointment prompted Styris to opine that India is looking towards a long-term option.

“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. 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," Scott Styris was quoted as saying by NDTV.

I think it's a really clever decision: Styris

Interestingly, Suryakumar Yadav is 33 years old, whereas Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma is 37. It is clear that Gautam Gambhir and co. will look for a long-term option when it comes to captaincy. Despite his age, Scott Styris opined that Suryakumar Yadav could end up leading India in the 2026 T20 World Cup, with the Men in Blue looking for a different option for captaincy later on. 

"If he (SKY) 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," said Styris.