Wanting to be a three-format player, Suryakumar eyes Test comeback

Earlier last month, India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear as daylight that Suryakumar Yadav won't be considered in India's scheme of things across both ODI and Test formats for now. But that hasn't stopped the 33-year-old from reigniting his Test ambitions by making himself available for the upcoming Buchi Babu tournament. 

"I want to play for India in all three formats,” Surya told the Times of India. Delving into the details of how he would like to do that, the current Indian T20I captain said that he would start with the first red-ball domestic tournament available. 

“Playing in Buchi Babu [Trophy] will give me good practice for the red-ball tournaments this season,” said the 33-year-old. He also confirmed that he would not captain the side that Sarfaraz Khan would in the tournament that will be held in Tamil Nadu.

Also Read: The sunrise: Timeline of Suryakumar’s climb to the Indian captaincy ladder

Surya is likely to play in the second half of the tournament that begins on August 15. He would most probably play against Jammu and Kashmir in Salem in the match starting August 27.

“I will join the team after the 25th. I’m always available to play for Mumbai and the club team whenever I'm free,” Surya had earlier told the Indian Express.

With the next set of T20Is not happening ahead of October, the right-hander has the Duleep Trophy, starting September 5 in Anantapur to bolster his chances of an India comeback in the longest format. India will play five Tests at home before departing for a tour of Australia in November this year. 

The last time Surya played in first-class cricket was in the Duleep Trophy 2023, where he scored 71 runs in four innings at a dismal average of 17.64. Overall, in 82 first-class games, the middle-order batter has piled up 5628 runs at an average of 43.62. He has 29 fifties and 14 hundreds to his name. Surya played his first and last Test for India to date against Australia in Nagpur in February 2023, where he didn't make any impact with the bat. 

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