India vs England: 'Playing for India Highest Honour' - Sachin Tendulkar Congratulates New Picks

Legendary former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar congratulated the newcomers Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Tewatia on their selection to the Indian squad for the T20I series against England.

The selectors named a 19-man squad for the series starting March 12 in Ahmedabad with an aim to try out new faces such as Ishan Kishan, Yadav and Rahul Tewatia in a World Cup year.

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"Heartiest congratulations @ishankishan51, @rahultewatia02 & @surya_14kumar for your maiden call up to the Indian Team, and also to @chakaravarthy29, who missed out in Australia. Playing for India is the highest honour for any cricketer. Wishing you all a lot of success," Tendulkar tweeted.

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Heartiest congratulations @ishankishan51, @rahultewatia02 & @surya_14kumar for your maiden call up to the Indian Team, and also to @chakaravarthy29, who missed out in Australia.

Playing for 🇮🇳 is the highest honour for any cricketer.

Wishing you all a lot of success.

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 21, 2021

Mystery spinner Varun replied saying the wishes meant a lot.

Thank you @sachin_rt sir 🙏 this means alot to me.. will take your good wishes along with me as blessings forever 🙏and congratulations to @surya_14kumar @ishankishan51 @rahultewatia02 😁 https://t.co/oZ7iGMXhuk

— Varun Chakaravarthy (@chakaravarthy29) February 21, 2021

Meanwhile, prolific Mumbai and Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav described his feeling as "surreal", a day after he earned a maiden India call-up for the upcoming T20 International series against England. Suryakumar was overlooked for the limited overs matches in Australia late last year despite a fine IPL, leaving many in the Indian cricket fraternity surprised.

"The feeling is surreal," tweeted Surya along with his picture at the D Y Patil Stadium.

The feeling is surreal❤️ pic.twitter.com/RccRbyYpx4

— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) February 21, 2021

The 30-year-old Mumbai batsman, who has been a constant performer in the Indian Premier League for his franchise Mumbai Indians and also in the domestic circuit, was rewarded for his performances on Saturday.

Surya, who has captained Mumbai in Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments, has played 77 first-class matches and amassed 5,326 runs.

Some former India cricketers also took to Twitter to express their satisfaction at the right-handed batsman's selection in the national team.

"So good to finally @surya_14kumar in Team India. Good Luck," wrote veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

"Finally the wait is over for @surya_14kumar congratulations buddy. Goodluck @ishankishan51 @rahultewatia02 for your debut guys," said former India seamer Irfan Pathan.

India are scheduled to play England in five T20 Internationals after the conclusion of the ongoing four-match Test series.

India's T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur.

• India vs England
• india vs england 2020-21
• India vs England 2021
• Ishan Kishan
• Rahul Tewatia
• sachin tendulkar
• Suryakumar Yadav
• Varun Chakravarthy