Sanjay Bangar hails captain Suryakumar Yadav for handling transition phase

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has showered praise on skipper Suryakumar Yadav for handling the transition phase after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja’s T20I retirement. SKY has led with aplomb in the shortest format of the game and India has won 15 out of their 18 T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados.

SKY has backed the team to play an aggressive brand of cricket and he as well as head coach Gautam Gambhir have backed players like Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Varun Chakravarthy, and Rinku Singh.

Bangar admitted he was shocked when the selectors backed Suryakumar Yadav for the captaincy onus ahead of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was expected to take over the baton from Rohit Sharma.

Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports, Deep Point, “Honestly, I was shocked that he was elevated to captain because, until that point, Hardik Pandya was the captain-designate. The way he handled that transition shows his great man-management skills. It’s still early days, but he’s the best fit for this young squad after the retirements of Jadeja, Kohli, and Rohit. That’s a big plus – he can be the leader of this new generation, someone who is one among them.”

On the other hand, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar hailed SKY’s temperament as a leader.

“He has a great temperament. Throughout his career, you can see that after a strong innings, he always has a smile during his interviews. He’s light-hearted. Just like Bumrah for India’s Test captaincy, SKY is by far the best player on this T20I team,” Manjrekar said.

Manjrekar backed SKY for long-term captaincy under head coach Gautam Gambhir.

“In T20Is, if you have a great coach working alongside the captain, because you need outside inputs, I think he could be a great long-term leader. I’m very excited to see if he has any say in team selection because I’m looking forward to watching players like Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh making a comeback, and even Varun Chakravarthy getting a chance,” Manjrekar explained.

The fourth T20I between India and England will take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Friday.