Before the start of the Buchi Babu tournament, the T20I captain of the Indian side, Suryakumar Yadav spoke about how he has been focusing on the red-ball format to develop his skills in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2024, as the national side gears up for their two-match Test series against Bangladesh to start the home season.
India will be playing another red-ball series of three games against New Zealand before they fly to Australia for the upcoming five-match series towards the end of the year in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
The dream for Suryakumar Yadav, the experienced middle-order batter of the Blue Brigade in the white-ball format of the game, was to be part of one of the Test series at home and extend his Test tally by more than one game, which was his debut against Australia in 2023 in Nagpur.
Suryakumar Yadav To miss Duleep Trophy 2024
The T20I captain of the national side, Suryakumar Yadav, has been ruled out from the opening round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy to nurse a hand injury that he sustained during last week’s pre-season fixture against Mumbai at the Buchi Babu event in Coimbatore.
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The batter has been advised to rest and is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for a routine assessment. The Mumbai-born didn’t bat in the second innings of the game against the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association XI, after picking up the injury while fielding on the third day.
The Mumbai team management has confirmed that the move was precautionary, considering participation in the season opener in the Duleep Trophy. The 33-year-old. who revealed his wish to be back in the Indian Test squad shortly, was keen to do well in the red-ball domestic tournament.
“I made my debut for India in Tests. After that, I got injured as well. There were a lot of people who got an opportunity and have done well too. They deserve that opportunity right now.” Suryakumar Yadav told the reporters a few weeks ago.
“In the future, if I have to play, then I will automatically play. That’s not in my control. What’s in my power right now is to play the Buchi Babu tournament, go on to play the Duleep Trophy, and then see what happens.” He continued. “But yes, I’m looking forward. There are ten Test matches lined up and I’m excited for some red-ball fun.”
He hasn’t been regular in the FC games due to the national commitment in the shortest format, having been part of 82 games and collecting 5628 runs at an average of 43.62 and a strike rate of over 60, celebrating 29 half-centuries and 14 centuries with a best score of 200-runs.
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Suryakumar Yadav was named in the India C squad, under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who will be taking on the India D side, under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, in Anantapur. The India A and India B sides will simultaneously play the other opening fixture at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Recently, along with Sky, the two fast bowlers Umran Malik and Mohammad Siraj have also been ruled out of the event due to illness, while their left-arm spin all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja, has been withdrawn without any clarification from the BCCI. The upcoming future all-rounder of the team, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been declared fit by the NCA after he missed the T20I series in Zimbabwe.