India dasher Suryakumar Yadav will turn up for Mumbai in their Buchi Babu contest against TNCA XI, beginning here on Tuesday, with an aim to get his Test career back on track.
Shreyas Iyer, also part of Mumbai’s squad, too will be looking to make a statement in the pre-season event, having last played a Test in February.
The star-studded Mumbai side will be captained by Sarfaraz Khan, who too will be jostling find space in a full strength Test squad when the home season begins next month despite a promising beginning against England earlier this year.
The likes of Virat Kohli, K L Rahul and Rishabh Pant, who were not available for different reasons over course of the five games against England, are expected to be available for the two Test series against Bangladesh beginning September 19 in Chennai.
The centre of attention in the round three of the Buchi Babu match undoubtedly will be Suryakumar, who recently led India to victory in his first series as T20 skipper. Not in the team’s ODI plans for the moment, the 33-year-old remains determined to play in all three formats. His sole Test appearance came against Australia in February 2023.
Since then, he has continued to flourish in white-ball cricket before taking up the T20 International captaincy duties for the Men in Blue.
Effectively, the Buchi Babu outing will be a mere warm-up for Suryakumar and others in the mix, given they all will be part of the Duleep Trophy beginning September 5.