Suryakumar Yadav is back in whites for Mumbai as he prepares to take the field for their Ranji Trophy quarterfinals against Haryana. India's T20I captain posted an image of him fully kitted up in the nets with a Mumbai shirt on. “Saphedi ka chamkar (the shine of white)” he wrote in Hindi in his caption.
His India teammate Axar Patel is among those who commented on it. "Ab maza aayega na," said Axar. Suryakumar last played long-form cricket in a Ranji Trophy group match for Mumbai against Maharashtra. He batted just once and was dismissed for just seven runs as Mumbai won the match by nine wickets. Suryakumar made his first-class debut for Mumbai all the way back in 2010. He has played 84 first-class games in his career and scored 5656 runs at an average of 42.84 with 14 centuries and 29 half-centuries.
Suryakumar keeping Test cricket in his sights
Widely regarded as one of the best T20 batters in the world, Suryakumar has strangely had little success in other formats of international cricket. He remains entirely out of contention in ODIs despite being captain of the Indian T20I team. Suryakumar has also played just one Test in his career and had expressed his desire to return to the format before the start of the current domestic season.
“There are a lot of players who have worked hard to earn their place in the Test squad," he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. "Even I want to earn a place in that Test squad. After I made my debut for India in Tests, I got injured. A lot of players who got opportunities have done well. Those are the players who deserve the opportunity right now.
{{/usCountry}}“There are a lot of players who have worked hard to earn their place in the Test squad," he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. "Even I want to earn a place in that Test squad. After I made my debut for India in Tests, I got injured. A lot of players who got opportunities have done well. Those are the players who deserve the opportunity right now.
{{/usCountry}}"Going forward, if I have to play, that is not in my control. What is in my control right now is to play this tournament (Buchi Babu), go on to play the Duleep Trophy and then we will see what happens,” said Suryakumar. The fact that he has returned to play the Ranji Trophy just days after leading India in the fifth T20I against England shows that Suryakumar continues to harbour hopes of making it into the Test squad.