India vs New Zealand: Suryakumar Yadav included in Team India Test squad, say reports

Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav is all set to be added to the Indian squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. For the unversed, the series will begin in Kanpur on 25 November, Thursday.

Last week at Jaipur, Yadav scored 62 runs off 40 balls in India’s five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first T20I. In total, he has played three ODIs and 11 T20Is for India so far.

Suryakumar Yadav is still to make his Test debut. AP Photo

The home team will play two Tests matches against the Kiwis, after a 3-0 triumph in the T20I series.

“Suryakumar will be making a comeback to the Test team. He will join India’s Test team in Kanpur from Kolkata,” a BCCI source told Mid-Day.

Indian Express has also reported that Suryakumar has been asked by BCCI to stay with the Indian team. The board is still to officially announce the reason behind their decision.

In August, this year, the India batter was part of the Test team that toured England but he was not included in the playing XI.

For the uninitiated, the upcoming Test series against New Zealand will be part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle. This year in the month of June, the two teams met each other in the WTC Final (2019-2021), where the Kiwis claimed the title, winning by eight wickets.

India squad for Test series against New Zealand:

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, (vice-captain), Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

Virat Kohli will lead the team after joining the squad for the second Test.