Gautam Gambhir has taken official charge of the Indian team ahead of the series-opener.© BCCI/X
New India head coach Gautam Gambhir took charge of his first practice session on Wednesday, ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. The Indian team arrived in Colombo on Monday, before the Suryakumar Yadav-led side, before making a short trip to Pallekele in the Central Province. India and Sri Lanka will play three T20Is in the city, followed by as many ODIs in Colombo. Following the retirement of captain Rohit Sharma from the T20I format, Suryakumar has been elevated for the leadership role for the three-match series.
Rohit will rejoin the team for the ODIs, along with Virat Kohli, who also announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game.
Ahead of the series-opener, the BCCI shared a video of India's first practice session in Pallekele on their official X account. "Head Coach Gautam Gambhir Takes Charge!" BCCI captioned the post.
In the video, Gambhir was seen watching players closely and giving some valuable batting tips to wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson.
#TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/sbG7VLfXGc
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2024
Before leaving for the island nation, Gambhir addressed his first press conference with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who revealed the reason behind the appointment of Suryakumar as the T20I captain over all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
"He is one of the deserving candidates. He is one of the best T20 batters in the world. We wanted a captain who was likely to play all the games. We will see how he will do," Agarkar told the reporters.
"As far as Hardik is concerned, he is still a very important player. And that's what we want him to be. Fitness has been a challenge for him over the last few years...Then it becomes difficult for the coach or selectors. I think Surya has the necessary qualities to succeed as a captain," he added.
The first T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pallekele on Saturday.
India T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman 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.
(With IANS Inputs)