Now-turned cricketer-commentator Scott Styris believes Shubhman Gill was named vice-captain instead of Hardik Pandya because the team management is looking for a long-term captain.
Former New Zealander Scott Styris has termed SuryakumarYaadav as a short-term option for T20I captaincy under the new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Styris does not see Surya leading India for a long time in the format and feels Shubhman has been given vice-captain to take over the captaincy after a while.
“Look, a vice-captain is just someone who is learning all about the 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 said
“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 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.”
“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.”
Though Styris sees Surya as a short-term option, he also feels that the management is buying time till they find a captain who could be staying long term.
“I think he’s a short-term option. I don’t think Gambhir has a natural captain amongst the players that he has right now. So, 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. 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,” said the 49-year-old.
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