India’s sprinter Suryakumar Yadav will play for Mumbai in their Buchi Babu match against TNCA XI, which starts here on Tuesday, hoping to resume his Test career.
Having not played a Test since February, Shreyas Iyer, another member of Mumbai’s team, will also be hoping to impress in the preseason match.
The star-studded Mumbai team will be captained by Sarfaraz Khan, who, after a strong start against England earlier this year, will also be fighting for a spot in a full strength Test squad when the home season starts next month.
For the two Test series against Bangladesh starting in Chennai on September 19, players like Virat Kohli, K L Rahul, and Rishabh Pant, who were sidelined for various reasons during the five games against England, are anticipated to be available.
The focus of attention in the Buchi Babu match’s third round will surely be Suryakumar, who just guided India to victory in his debut series as the T20 captain. Although he is now not part of the team’s ODI plans, the 33-year-old is nonetheless committed to playing in all three forms. In February 2023, he made his only Test appearance against Australia.
He has since excelled in white-ball cricket and assumed leadership responsibilities for the Men in Blue in T20 Internationals.
For Suryakumar and the other players in the mix, the Buchi Babu trip will essentially be a warm-up as they will all be competing for the Duleep Trophy starting on September 5.
Suryakumar played in the Duleep Trophy last year, which was his final First-Class cricket match.
With a top score of 52, Suryakumar, who was playing for West Zone, only scored 71 runs at an average of just 17.75 in four innings. Under Priyank Panchal’s leadership, his team lost the final against South Zone by 75 runs.
Along with Surya, the Mumbai team’s attractions will also include Sarfaraz and Shreyas.
Sarfaraz, who played his first Test match against England earlier this year, has shown promise at the bat, amassing 200 runs at an average of 50.00 in five innings, including three half-centuries.
After 14 Test matches, Iyer has struggled to make an impact in the longest format. Since January 2023, he has amassed just 187 runs in 12 innings at an average of just 17:00, with a peak score of just $35.
As a result, even though Sarfaraz is free of headaches going into this Buchi Babu match, Iyer, who will be captaining Team D in the Duleep Trophy, has greater focus on the next domestic season.
Mumabi’s rivals, the TNCA XI, will be captained by R Sai Kishore, the Ranji Trophy’s top wicket-taker from the previous year.
Teams (from)
TNCA XI: R Sai Kishore (c), Pradosh Ranjan Paul (vc), Mokit RS Hariharan, G Ajitesh, Indrajith Baba, Boopathi Vaishna Kumar, S Lokeshwar (wk), SR Athish (wk), R Sonu Yadav, P Vidyuth, S Lakshya Jain, S Ajith Ram, G Govinth, CV Achyuth, H Trilok Nag and V Yudheeswaran.
Mumbai: Sarfaraz Khan (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Akhil Herwadkar, Divyansh Saxena, Musheer Khan, Vedant Murkar, Siddhanth Addhatrao, Suryansh Shedge, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh, Atharva Ankolekar, Roystan Dias, Mohit Avasthi, Sylvester Dsouza and Junaid Khan.
