Will we see Suryakumar Yadav make the transition from India blues to whites? His latest message could be a huge hint.
In less than 2 years in international cricket, Suryakumar Yadav has reached the same level as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in terms of fan popularity in India. Having already proven himself to be a revelation in T20Is, Suryakumar is rapidly inching towards becoming an all-format player for India. A permanent for India in T20Is, Surya is always in the reckoning for ODIs as well… and now if his latest hint is any indication, SKY could be making a jump from India blues to India whites.
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Having earned his maiden Test call-up last month in January, Surya could be in line for his Test debut ahead of the much-anticipated 1st match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting February 9 in Nagpur. In his latest Instagram post, Suryakumar shared a picture of a brand-new red SG ball with the caption ‘Hello Friend,’ indicating that he might break into India’s Playing XI for the series opener.
If included, Suryakumar is expected to bat at No. 6 for India, with KL Rahul slotting in at the No. 5 spot. With Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill likely to open followed by Cheteshwar Pujara at 3 and Virat Kohli at 4, the availability of Rahul, Surya and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle order and R Ashwin at 8 will make for a strong batting line-up. India can then opt for either three pacers or two quicks and one additional spinner in Axar Patel as per the Nagpur pitch.
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Suryakumar’s inclusion in India’s Test Playing XI makes sense since he could fill the void caused by the absence of Rishabh Pant, who is out for a long time following his accident in December. Like Pant, Surya too likes to attack and while he may not be as dangerous as legendary as Pant in Tests, we all know what he is capable of. Suryakumar ruled T20Is in the year 2022 and while Test matches are a different kettle of fish altogether, SKY may find his calling in the format he has always dreamt of playing in.
Suryakumar, who has already scored a century and a fifty this year, missed the ODI series against Bangladesh in December as he went back to play a couple of Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai. Against Hyderabad, Suryakumar played his first First-Class game in almost three years and smashes an 80-ball 90 on his Ranji return. Later, in the game against Saurashtra, Suryakumar batted at a brisk pace, scoring 95 off just 107 balls hitting 14 fours and a six and followed it with 38 off 46 balls in the second innings before being bowled by Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. However, his knocks were in vain as Saurashtra wrapped up a 48-run win.
Surya boasts a fine First-Class average of 44.75, having scored 5549 runs from 79 games, including 14 hundreds and 28 fifties. Besides, SKY has never hidden his ambitions of playing Tests for India. Surya’s sharp rise in career graph has repeatedly prompted reporters to ask him about his aim of representing India in Tests, and each time, Surya has been pretty vocal about it while remaining confident about his chances.
