Suryakumar Yadav has established himself as one of India’s leading batters in white-ball cricket.
His batting was one of the highlights of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. The dashing right-hander scored 239 runs in six matches at a sensational strike rate of 189.68 with three half-centuries.
Overall, Surya 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.
Thanks to his exploits, Suryakumar Yadav has been picked in India’s squad for the first two Tests of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at home.
Meanwhile, former cricketer Suresh Raina has also backed Yadav’s Test selection, saying that the latter should play all three forms of the game.
"Absolutely, the way he is performing. I think he should play in all three formats and without him, all three formats should not even exist. The way he performed, the way he shows intent, the way he plans different shots, he also plays fearlessly and knows how to use the dimension of the ground," Raina said in a conversation with Aakash Chopra on Viacom18 Sports.
"He is a Mumbai player, and he knows how to play red-ball cricket. I think he has a great chance - playing Test cricket will get him another establishment in ODIs and some stability as well. He will score multiple 100s and then 200s," he added.
Endorsing Raina’s views, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha said: "Absolutely he should be in the Test team. The way he has played cricket, and the way he has performed, I think he must be there in all three formats. I know why this question is coming. The way young talent Sarfaraz Khan is performing at the moment. I understand there is temptation and I think his time will come. But Surya deserves a hundred per cent to be in the Test team."
Suryakumar Yadav will be next seen in action in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting January 27 in Ranchi.
(With ANI Inputs)