Durban (TIP)- Suryakumar Yadav will be leading India in their upcoming four-match T20I series vs South Africa. India will also be hoping for good results after their 0-3 whitewash by New Zealand in a three-match Test series at home. During the Test series vs New Zealand, Suryakumar wasn’t part of the squad, having only once appeared for India in that format. Speaking ahead of the South Africa series, Suryakumar hoped for a Test comeback, and revealed that he was participating in all red-ball, white-ball domestic tournaments.
“When the time comes, I will make a Test comeback. I am playing in all domestic tournaments, be it red-ball or white-ball. I don’t miss any games. If a Test comeback is meant to happen, it will,” he said.
His sole Test match was vs Australia in 2023, where he scored eight runs in his sole innings. In the same year, he was selected as a reserve player in the WTC final. Commenting on Rohit’s recent form, he said, “Whether Rohit is performing well or not, his character remains unchanged. That is a quality I believe every sportsman should have.”
Suryakumar has appeared in 84 first class matches, registering 5656 runs at an average of 42.84, with 14 tons and 29 half-centuries across 140 innings, with 200 being his highscore.
Suryakumar captained the Mumbai team for a brief period during the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, before getting replaced midway through the campaign. He registered 690 runs in ten matches in the tournament. He was also part of the Mumbai squad which won the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy title.
He was amongst the top-five run-scorers in the season, with 788 runs and got three tons, including a knock of 115 runs in the second innings of the semi-final vs Madhya Pradesh. He also reached the 2016-17 Ranji final, but Mumbai lost to Gujarat in the final.
‘Make place for Cheteshwar Pujara as soon as possible’: Gambhir, Rohit get ‘need an anchor’ advice from Uthappa. India’s batting has landed into immense scrutiny in recent weeks, with that being a focus of the struggle as New Zealand whitewashed the team at home 3-0 in the recently-concluded series.
It is now the focus of question-marks as India prepare for the always-tricky Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where batting technique and temperament both will be tested thoroughly on difficult tracks by Australia’s world class bowling attack. India will also be without Cheteshwar Pujara for the first time in Australia following his removal from the squad, with that being a matter of concern given Pujara was arguably the most important player with bat for India as they won the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series down under.