Suryakumar Yadav Set To Join India's Test Squad For New Zealand Series - Reports

Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav is likely to be added to the Indian team for the upcoming 2-match Test series against the visiting New Zealand team which begins in Kanpur on November 25, Thursday.

The 30-year-old was part of the Test team that toured England in August but wasn’t included in the playing XI. He was brought in as a backup option for struggling middle-order batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.

According to reports, he will meet up with the Test team ahead of the first Test. “Suryakumar Yadav will be making a comeback to the Test team. He will join India’s Test team in Kanpur from Kolkata,” a source was quoted as saying to Mid-Day on Monday.

Suryakumar Yadav has a decent first-class record playing for Mumbai. He has scored 5356 runs in 77 matches at an average of around 44, including 14 centuries and 26 fifties. However, he hasn’t played a single red-ball game since February 2020.

The upcoming Test series against the Kiwis is part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle. The two teams met each other in the WTC Final (2019-2021) this June where New Zealand comfortably won by eight wickets to claim the ICC Test Mace.

This series will be the Kiwis’ first of the new cycle and they will be expected to put up a sturdy fight to defend the title. As for India, they started off on the right note gaining a 2-1 lead against England away from home.

India’s squad for Test series against New Zealand:

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Virat Kohli will join the squad for the second Test and will lead the team.

Also Read – IND vs NZ 2021: We Spoke To All The Players That If You Are Trying To Do Something For India, That Act Will Never Go Unnoticed – Rohit Sharma