The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is slated to get underway on February 9 in Nagpur.
The Rohit Sharma-led side needs to win at least three Tests in the series to qualify for the final, due to be held at the Oval in June 2023.
Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India’s team combination has been a major talking point, with Shreyas Iyer remaining doubtful to take part in the series opener due to back injury.
With only a day left in the iconic series, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar batted for Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat’s inclusion in the Indian team for the opening Test.
"I think Surya will play the first Test with Bharat at No.6. Surya has played 79 first-class games, this is a unique career that we are witnessing. He has been around for a long time,” said Manjrekar while speaking to Star Sports.
"He will play because there are not many other options in the squad. Even in 50-over cricket, if he decides not to hit the ball in the air for a while, he will still score at a strike rate of 120. He is not just a six-hitter. He has a great sweep shot, which is just a great shot to have to put the opposition spinner under pressure,” he added.
Suryakumar Yadav took the cricketing world by storm with his batting exploits in the shortest format for India last year.
The dashing right-hander played 31 T20I innings last year, amassing 1164 runs at an average of 46.56 and a remarkable strike rate of 187.43, including two hundreds and nine half-centuries. As a result, he also earned the ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year honour for 2022.
According to Manjrekar, Suryakumar could be the player who takes on the spinners like Rishabh Pant did before getting injured due to car crash.
“Maybe one guy can come down the order and attack the spinners as Rishabh Pant has done for India. But, on a team basis, to come in with that ultra-aggressive tactic will be hazardous, because you are playing really outside your natural approach,” said Manjrekar.
Having regained his form last year, star batter Virat Kohli has started slamming hundreds once again. However, Manjrekar said if Kohli makes runs in the Test series against Australia then one can definitely say that he is back to his supreme best.
"Kohli has been a wonderful player of spin, but of late, a simple observation that I have made is judgment of length, especially against spinners. If he gets runs in this Test series, then you can definitely say that Kohli is back to his supreme best,” he opined.