Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has backed Suryakumar Yadav to make his Test debut in the opening Test match against Australia in the upcoming series. Shastri wants SKY to bat aggressively and back his natural game against the Aussies.
Suryakumar Yadav has been in prolific form in the T20I format and he will look to carry the same in the Test matches against Australia if he gets his chance in the final XI. SKY has amassed 5549 runs in 79 first-class matches at an average of 44.75.
SKY has the ability to turn the match on its head with aggressive batting and Shastri wants him to take the attack against the Australian spinners.
“Suryakumar Yadav might get the opportunity in that Test match. And he’s going to play his natural game. I think he’s one player who will be proactive. Especially with Nathan Lyon or the other spinners, he will be looking to score all the time, looking to rotate the strike. If you want to do well in India, you have got to rotate the strike. You can’t have bowlers bowling maidens at you. You have got to find a way where you want to score, not think of just blocking, because that can create real problems for you.
“So I think he will be very useful in that position. He might come and play a little cameo on a track that is spinning a lot, where a 30 or 40 could decide the fate of a game. And he can get it quickly and disrupt the opposition. So India will be thinking in that fashion there,” he said to a select group of journalists in a press conference organised by Star Sports.
SKY played three innings for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, scoring 223 runs at an impressive strike rate of 95.70. Meanwhile, it will be a toss up between Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill in the middle order in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who has been ruled out with a back injury.
Shastri added Gill will be in the mix and he will certainly be part of the final 12. Gill has been in top form for India in white-ball formats and he will look to carry the same if he gets his chance.
“I am not forgetting Gill, Shubman Gill. I’ll have a close eye on Shubman Gill the day before the game starts, after seeing the conditions. So if I have to announce the 12, Gill won’t be far. Don’t forget the last two innings he played against Australia – in Melbourne, he batted beautifully when India won; and at the Gabba, it was his innings that really set up the game. That 91 in the second innings was world class,” the 60-year-old added.
Shastri admitted that India will definitely miss the services of Rishabh Pant, who has been brilliant for India in the last couple of seasons.
“That’s a really tough call for India. That’s how important Rishabh Pant is. He ticks both the boxes – behind the stumps, not only has his keeping improved drastically but he can get under the skin of the batter. That’s one very important thing that he has, when he keeps. But as a batter, he is so dangerous that he can turn a game on its head. In fact, he’s played more match-winning innings in the last two or three years, than any of the top five Indian batters.
The former all-rounder added India should back a better wicket-keeper for the first Test if the pitch is good for the spinners.
“When it comes to the two people out there, I think what you’ll have to weigh is what the pitch is going to play like. If it’s going to turn, then I would look for the better keeper. That’s a decision the team management will have to make. Because the guys like Jadeja, Kuldeep, Ashwin, they will need a good keeper behind the stumps. Because that will get the confidence of the bowler going as well,” Shastri elaborated.
