New Delhi: Indian cricket’s white-ball team regulars Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer will be looking to get their Test career back on track when they pad up for Mumbai in the Buchi Babu tournament that begins in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
Mumbai will take on TNCA XI in the opening game, and will be skippered by Sarfaraz Khan, who is another right-hand batter who will be jostling for a space in the Indian team’s middle order.
They were all given opportunities when Virat Kohli, K L Rahul and Rishabh Pant were not available for various reasons during the five Tests against England earlier in the year.
But as all of them are expected to be available for the two-Test series against Bangladesh, which starts in Chennai from September 19, competition for places will be intense.
Suryakumar has made himself a T20I regular and is also being viewed as a future captain, having led India to win in his first series as skipper.
Though out of favour in the ODI and Test teams, the 330yer-old remains keen to play in all formats, despite an unimpressive debut against Australia in February 2023.
Hence the Buchi Babu tournament assumes significance for Surya as it is a warm-up event for the Duleep Trophy that begins from September 5. His last competitive game in First-Class cricket was the Duleep Trophy last year.
For West Zone, Suryakumar scored 71 runs in four innings at an average of 17.75, as his side lost to South Zone by 75 runs in the final.
Shreyas in focus
Apart from Surya, Sarfaraz and Shreyas will also be in focus as they are yet to cement their places in the red-ball format.
Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England earlier in the year and scored 200 runs in five innings at an average of 50.00, hitting three fifties.
Shreyas has played in 14 Tests, managing 187 runs in 12 innings at an average of 17.00 since January 2023. Before leading Team D in the Duleep Trophy, Shreyas will be desperate to get his form going.
But Shreyas will face tough opposition from Sai Kishore, who led, the leading wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy last season, who will lead the TNCA XI
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.
Match starts: 9.30 am (IST).
Live streaming available on the TNCA app and TNCA’s YouTube channel.
Mumbai will take on TNCA XI in the Buchi Babu tournament that begins in Coimbatore on Tuesday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
