Suryakumar Yadav set for Test comeback under Gautam Gambhir? India T20I captain sends clear message to head coach

India star batsman Suryakumar Yadav eyes Test comeback after being recently nominated as the T20I captain of India. He made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Ahead of the Test series against Australia in December later this year, Suryakumar Yadav is aiming to make a Test comeback for India. He has also agreed to play under Sarfaraz Khan in the Buchi Babu Tournament.

Suryakumar Yadav, who was not originally included in the Mumbai squad, confirmed his availability in the second half of the tournament. He has also asked the selector not to change the leadership and agreed to play under Sarfaraz. Suryakumar Yadav will likely feature in Mumbai's fixture against Jammu and Kashmir in Salem starting August 27.

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In an exclusive interview with Times of India, Suryakumar Yadav expressed his intentions of making a Test comeback for India. He further said that playing in the tournament will help him prepare better for the red-ball season.

Want To Play All Three Formats For India: Suryakumar Yadav

"I want to play for India in all three formats. Playing in Buchi Babu will give me good practice for the red-ball tournaments this season," Suryakumar was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Under his captaincy, India won the three-match T20I series against Sri Laka 3-0. He was not included in the ODI series that India lost. Noen of the Indian batters barring Rohit Sharma looked comfortable against the Sri Lankan spinners. Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt said not including SKY in the Indian team was a blunder by the Gautam Gambhir led-management.

In 37 ODIs for India, SKY has scored 773 runs with just four fifty-plus scores and a best of 72. e averages 25.77 in the ODI format which is nowhere close to his T20I and IPL average. Ajit Agarkar after naming SKY as the T20I captain said that currently he will only play T20I cricket for India.

However, given how well Surya played the spinners in the T20I series, he could have been one batsman who could have dominated them on the pitches in Colombo. As of now, he is on a break but will eventually play in the Buchi Babu tournament to take a shot at his Test return.

Suryakumar's most recent first-class appearance came in last season's Duleep Trophy in July 2023. Overall, in 82 first-class matches, he has scored 5628 runs and averages 43.62 with 29 fifties and 14 hundreds.

Speaking about Team India, after their ODI series loss to Sri Lanka, the Men in Blue will now venture into their Test season at home starting with a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka followed by a three-match Test series against New Zealand. India then tours Australia for a five-match Test series starting November 22. All these matches are part of the ongoing WTC.

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