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Suryakumar Yadav, pic:x

Xtra Time Web Desk: BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has openly acknowledged that Suryakumar Yadav's name was not discussed for the ODI squad, with the team management content with the services of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant in the middle-order.

In a pre-departure press conference ahead of India's tour of Sri Lanka, Agarkar stated that Surya is currently only seen as a T20I player, citing the performances of the aforementioned trio in ODIs. "No, we haven't discussed Surya (for ODIs) at this point. Shreyas (Iyer) is back, KL (Rahul) is back. They have had great ODI World Cups, Rishabh (Pant) is back as well. So there is some real quality through that middle order. So at this point Surya is a T20I player," Agarkar said.

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Suryakumar's ODI numbers are starkly different from his T20I record, with 773 runs at an average of 25.76 in 37 matches. However, Agarkar defended the decision to appoint him as T20I captain, stating that he was a deserving candidate and received positive feedback from the dressing room.

"Why Surya was made captain? Because he is one of the deserving candidates. The one we know has been around the dressing room over the last one year, you get feedback from the dressing room a lot. He has got a good cricketing brain and he is still one of the best T20 batters in the world," Agarkar said.

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Suryakumar has joined the Indian team in Sri Lanka, where they will play three T20Is and three ODIs starting July 27. This marks the beginning of a new era under new head coach Gautam Gambhir.