The selection committee meeting to pick the limited overs squad for the
Sri Lanka tour was postponed to Thursday following a difference of opinion over the
captain for the three-match T20I series.

The Ajit Agarkar-led committee was scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening but it was called off barely a few hours earlier.

None were willing to go on record but The Telegraph understands that new head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Agarkar’s move to elevate Suryakumar Yadav to the leadership role failed to get the approval from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) brass.

The decision can’t be delayed any further since convener and BCCI secretary Jay Shah has to leave for Colombo to attend the ICC’s annual conference which begins on Friday.

Sources confirmed by late evening that Surya was ahead in the race since the BCCI didn’t wish to defy Gambhir’s choice.

Gambhir preferred Surya — with whom he had shared the dressing room at Kolkata Knight Riders — as captain over Hardik Pandya. It was during their association at KKR that the world’s No.2 T20 batter earned the nickname SKY.

The head coach had made his intentions clear during a virtual meeting, his first since taking charge, with the selection committee members last week which was also attended by Shah. The composition of the white ball squads and the roadmap ahead for Team India were discussed in detail.

Pandya, who was the vice-captain during the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, was deemed to be an automatic choice but his injury-prone nature came in the way. Gambhir wants consistency and a settled line-up in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup and doesn’t have much confidence in Pandya’s fitness.

The BCCI’s contention has been simple: Pandya had been groomed to step into Rohit Sharma’s shoes and his exploits in the World Cup can’t be dismissed in a hurry. He hasn’t shown any injury concerns in IPL 2024 and during their title triumph in the West Indies last month.

Gambhir also made it clear at the meeting that he would want the Big 3 — Rohit, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah — to be available for the ODIs in Sri Lanka as not many matches were slotted ahead of the Champions Trophy in February. It was learnt that while Kohli and Bumrah were unlikely to make themselves available, Rohit could cut short his vacation overseas and return home to lead India in the three-match ODI series, which begins on July 27.

In case Rohit fails to make it, KL Rahul is set to be the stand-in captain.

There could also be some good news for Shreyas Iyer, who lost his central contract in February, with a return to the ODI squad.