"Interesting to see Surya's approach in Test cricket" - Fans give mixed reactions as Suryakumar Yadav makes his Test debut

Suryakumar Yadav is all set to make his Test debut in the first game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9.

The Mumbai batter was earlier named as a backup option for the England series in 2021. He, along with Prithvi Shaw, joined the squad after Team India suffered a couple of injuries in the lead-up to the series. However, he didn't feature in any game.

Suryakumar has now been rewarded with a Test cap at the age of 33 in Nagpur and comes into the team in place of Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out of the first match with an injury. He was handed the cap by former India head coach Ravi Shastri in the presence of family members and fellow teammates.

Fans were delighted to see the flamboyant batter in the Test side. While some felt that his inclusion would be a valuable addition to the team, others held reservations about his ability in the red-ball format.

Suryakumar Yadav boasts a stellar record in first-class cricket while playing for Mumbai. He has scored 5549 runs, including 14 centuries and 28 fifties, in 79 matches at an average of 44.75.

The Mumbai-born batter was recently in action in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, where he looked to be in good touch. He played a sublime 90-run knock against Hyderabad and backed it up with 95 and 38 in the next game against Saurashtra.

India vs Australia Playing 11s

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, and Scott Boland.

About the author

Ankush is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda covering news, listicles, features, and exclusives. A graduate in Commerce and an accountant by qualification, Ankush followed his true calling for sports journalism, and today, has over 8 years of experience having working for the likes of Sportzwiki and Cricfit. Ankush places a very high emphasis on factual accuracy in his articles and believes in representing the true image of the story. Writing in the simplest and most easy-to-understand language possible, especially for those not well-versed with English, is one of his strengths.

Ankush, who captained his state in the National School games, is a big fan of Ravichandran Ashwin. He admires his unconventional thinking and his eagerness to keep learning despite being a legend of the game. His favorite cricket team is Australia because of their mentality and fighting spirit, and them beating India in the 2003 World Cup final left a lasting impression on him.

Apart from watching and covering cricket, Ankush also likes to read books whenever possible.

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