00:04All right, joining us on this big story where the Indian T20 team has been announced, Shreya
00:09Sire is your new captain. Surakumar Yadav has had to face an omission from this Indian T20 team,
00:16a team that he led to the World Cup title. Joining us live and exclusive on India today,
00:21former India captain, our cricket analyst in Sunny Gavaskar. Sai Bai, first thing first,
00:26the big headline, of course, is Shreya Sire is the new captain of the Indian T20 team.
00:33What a turnaround it's been for Shreya. My mind takes me back to a couple of years ago.
00:37He was even dropped from the central contracts because he wasn't turning up for his domestic side,
00:43Mumbai. Not only does he return and missed out on two T20 World Cups as well.
00:47Not only does he return to the Indian T20 team, returns as captain.
00:52Yes, I think it's a fabulous turnaround. But it also tells you that in Indian cricket,
00:57you know, everybody has a chance. Everybody has a fair opportunity. So, he was left out
01:03of the contracts because he wasn't available for domestic cricket because of his back issues.
01:08Not a lot of people understood that, that he was available for the one day, the white ball game,
01:14but not the red ball game because of the fact that the red ball game takes a lot longer.
01:21But be that as it may, I mean, let's not look at the past. Let's just see, you know,
01:25what a fabulous turnaround it has been for him to now come back in the team as the captain of
01:30the Indian team.
01:31Hard lines on Sirukumar Riyadhav. But I think more than anything, it's his personal form
01:37that has, you know, led to him not being included in the team.
01:41There's nothing wrong with his captaincy. I think they're looking ahead for sure,
01:45the Indian selection committee. But if his form had been very good, say, the IPL,
01:49if he'd been scoring lots of runs, then it would have been very, very tough to leave him out of
01:54the side.
01:54I'll pick your brains on Sirukumar Riyadhav Sahi Bhai. But before that, on Shreya Sayyar,
01:58as we said, remarkable turnaround. But looking at his form, his captaincy in the IPL,
02:05you think they picked the right man? There were a few other contenders as well.
02:08Tilak has been picked as vice-captain. You know, there's a Jaspreet Bumrah who,
02:13you know, is one of your stars in T20 cricket. You know, there were multiple options that the
02:18Indian selectors could have gone with. I mean, there was Sanju Samsung who was captain in the IPL.
02:23Ishaan Kishan was captaining. Have they picked the right man?
02:27I think they have. For a simple reason, look at his record leading the franchises.
02:32All the franchises that he's been leading, he's taken them to wins or he's taken them to the final.
02:37And his backing has not been affected by the case of captaincy in the T20 format.
02:42So that's so important because as whatever is your speciality, you don't want that to suffer
02:48because you're now leading the side. And he's shown that his backing doesn't get affected by the
02:53cares of captaincy. And that is the reason why he's been given the job ahead of everybody else.
02:58Because definitely, as far as his credentials, captaincy credentials are concerned.
03:03They're much better than the other names that you mentioned.
03:06Okay. Now to Suru Kumar Yadar. As you mentioned, maybe, you know, his form with a bat is what has
03:11prompted the selectors to take this call. My question to you is, as you said, there's nothing
03:16wrong with his captaincy. India, in fact, undefeated under Suru Kumar Yadar's captaincy.
03:21They've not lost a single bilateral under him. They've, of course, defended the World Cup title
03:26as well. Would you have been tempted to give him a series or two? Probably, you know, apprised
03:31him of his situation that, listen, runs aren't coming. We're keeping a close eye. But maybe
03:35a series or two to prove yourself. If runs come, continue. Or you think, no, the time was
03:39right because you were entering into a new T20 cycle?
03:44Yes, I think it would have been tempting to give him another go because, you know, he's such
03:48a fine player. He's a very, very good player. And everybody can go through a lead patch.
03:52And he's going through one of those lead patches that comes in the career of every player,
03:58at least once, if not more than once. But as you said, it's a new cycle. And for the new
04:04cycle, you want to be having players available who are going to be there after two years, 28
04:10for the Olympics and 27 for the World Cup. 28 for the World Cup as well. So I think with
04:18that in view and looking at Surya Kumar's age, they went for the younger man.
04:25Now, I don't know whether Sky continues to play, whether he wants to ever make a comeback.
04:30That's entirely his prerogative. But if he is not to play for India again, if you were
04:35to look back at Surya Kumar Yadav, the T20 batter who dominated at one time was considered
04:40the best T20 batter on the planet. What's the kind of legacy he leaves behind both as a
04:45T20 captain as well as a T20 batter in your mind?
04:49I think as a T20 batter first, you know, he brought a refreshing range of shots. Some
04:55of the shots which were not seen earlier, like the scoop shot for six of the fast bowlers,
05:01which flick shot for six of the quick bowlers, which is not an easy shot to play. It has been
05:06played, of course, before that and also after that. But his was a completely different one
05:11because he would get under the ball and also sort of half scoop, half flick it for sixes.
05:17That's how he actually opened his account. First ball of Jofra Hatcher way back when he made his debut for
05:22India.
05:23And then, of course, the lofted shots over mid-off. The way that he would sweep from outside the off
05:30stump
05:30anywhere from wide mid-wicket to deep, fine leg. The range of his sweeping was incredible.
05:38So, that's a batting legacy that we will be able to, you know, remember in a game of form. And
05:43as a captain as well,
05:44you know, he always had a smile on his face. He was not, you know, one of those captains who
05:49did not want to acknowledge the opposition.
05:52If the opposition played well, if an opposition batter played well, he would be, you know, he would be sort
05:58of with his facial expressions showing his admiration for the shot.
06:03And generally, I think he was somebody who, in the mould of, say, MS Dhoni, didn't seem to get upset
06:10when things were not going right for the team.
06:12So, keeping this goal was something which I think he will leave behind as a legacy.
06:18And of course, some of the smart moves that he made, bowling changes, pushing somebody up on the order, like
06:23Thilak Varma, up the order when needed.
06:26So, clearly, yes, I think as a captain also, he could remember. But like you said, India never lost a
06:30bilateral series under him as captain.
06:33Yes, it's indeed a rich legacy that he'll leave behind, both as a batter as well as a captain.
06:39But, you know, one legend is exiting, a youngster or a perceived future superstar is entering.
06:46Usually, we have a 15-member squad. This time for Ireland and England, India has picked a 16-member squad.
06:52The 16th member is a name we are all now familiar with, by above Suryavanchi. What do you make of
06:57that, Sanivai?
06:59Well, it was expected, wasn't it? Because look at the form that he was in, look at the number of
07:03runs that he scored.
07:04How could you leave him out of the squad after that? You've got to reward, you know, performance.
07:09And I think that's what they've done. In the T20 format, we're picking him up.
07:14And I think that is going to be something which is going to be fantastic.
07:18Whether he gets to play in the 11th, we'll just have to wait and see.
07:22Because there's Abhishek Sharma, there's Sanju Samson at the opening spot.
07:26And then there is also, you've got Ishan Kishan at number three.
07:29So, whether he gets to play matches, we'll have to just wait and see.
07:34But whatever it is, for him to be that Indian change room will be a great learning experience as well.
07:40Which will serve him in good stead as his career takes on.
07:45Actually, I was going to put you in the spot, Sanivai, and ask you exactly that same question.
07:48If you had to make an 11, do you play him straight up?
07:52Or do you give him a few chances on the tour and see how he goes?
07:57I'll pick him for the Ireland T20s for sure.
08:00In the Ireland T20s, I'd like to see him play in the Ireland T20s.
08:03Give him a chance ahead of, say, maybe Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma.
08:08Or maybe, you know, one match Abhishek Sharma is left out, one match Sanju Samson is left out.
08:13Why both Suryumashe plays both the games against Ireland.
08:17Saibadi, one other thing that we notice in these T20 scores, minus the Asian Games score, both for Ireland and
08:23England.
08:24Jaspreet Bumrah, Hardik Pandya don't make the score.
08:26In fact, Hardik has not even made the Asian Games score.
08:29It does seem like that workload management is coming to play because this could be the year you focus on
08:3450 over cricket.
08:35And that's why you want to keep these two players fresh.
08:38Could that be the reasoning behind it?
08:40Yes, definitely.
08:41It's also because I think they've got a bit of injury concerns.
08:44So, give them as much of a break as possible.
08:47Get them absolutely 100% fit for the matches that are there from, say, the end of the year.
08:56Saibadi, the two other names apart from Sky that miss out from that World Cup winning squad, Rinku Singh, who
09:02played on and off for India.
09:03And then, number one out-and-out spinner that you had for the longest time in Kuldeep Yadav.
09:09I know Kuldeep didn't have a great IPL, but otherwise has been very good for India.
09:12What do you make of the omission of these two players, Rinku and Kuldeep?
09:17Hard on Rinku because Rinku has done nothing wrong.
09:20But that's what happens.
09:21Sometimes you just don't find a place.
09:24And that's what's happened to him.
09:25As far as Kuldeep is concerned as well, Kuldeep didn't have the best of IPLs.
09:29He seemed to have lost on confidence towards the middle when he was being taken for runs.
09:35You know, the Kotla is a very small ground and with the kind of big pats that they have nowadays.
09:40And the boundaries being brought in despite Kotla being such a small ground is no help for any bowler and
09:45particularly a wrist spinner.
09:47So, he seemed to have lost his confidence a little bit.
09:49But again, he's a very fine bowler.
09:51And hopefully, he'll be able to make a comeback to the Indian team sooner than later.
09:55We've spoken about, you know, the exploits of Awebhav Suryavanchi.
09:58He makes it to the team on the back of those good performances in the IPL.
10:02Prince Yadav is the other one because of a good IPL has made it to the Indian team.
10:06The one player that's missed out though, Rajat Patidar.
10:09He's been having, you know, last two IPL seasons, outstanding seasons, taken his team to the title as well.
10:15What more must Rajat Patidar do to get that breakthrough into the Indian T20 setup?
10:21Well, there you are.
10:22I think it could have been possibly a close call for captaincy between Rajat Patidar and Shreyas Aiyan.
10:28I wouldn't be surprised if both of them were being discussed as the replacement for Sivakumar Yadav as the captain.
10:35But then one man got it.
10:36And that is Shreyas Aiyan.
10:38And not Rajat Patidar because maybe Shreyas' experience as a captain spread across three or four franchises has been that
10:46much better than Rajat Patidar.
10:49Again, unlucky to miss out on Rajat Patidar.
10:52But that's again how it is.
10:54Only 16 players in a squad and 11 can play.
10:58And finally, Zayma, before we let you go, I see the Asian Games squad as well.
11:02Now, this is a sort of a championship we're not too used to covering.
11:05But a full-strength T20i team has been picked, including a Jaspreet Bumrah.
11:11What does that tell you?
11:12India is really serious of winning not just a medal, but a gold medal at the Continental Championship, would you
11:18say?
11:19Absolutely.
11:19You want to win the gold medal.
11:21You want to add to the country's gold medal.
11:23So, yes, you want to win.
11:25And therefore, it's a good thing that, you know, absolutely full-strength side has been picked.
11:30Okay, Mr. Gavaskar, thank you so much for taking our time, speaking to us, giving us some perspective on this
11:35latest team selection
11:36that has seen a new captain in the Indian T20 setup, and that is Shreya Sayyar.
11:43Thank you so much for watching.
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