Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri handed over the test cap to Suyakumar Yadav ahead of the first test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The reaction of Yadav was priceless as he was beaming with a smile.
Suryakumar Yadav became the first Indian player to make a debut in all formats post the age of 30. There was a lot of chat about who will replace the injured Shreyas Iyer in the playing 11.
Shubhman Gill has been in terrific touch this year and had just scored a test hundred in the previous series against Bangladesh. On the other hand, with the talks of the pitches being rank turners, Suryakumar was a preferred choice due to his ability to play spin.
Along with Surya, Andhra Pradesh wicketkeeper batter KS Bharat too made his test debut. He became the only wicketkeeper from Andhra Pradesh after MSK Prasad to debut for India.
Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting: Rohit Sharma
“We would have batted too. Looks pretty dry. There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does. Yesterday when we started training we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had a good prep for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it’s about winning one session at a time. It’s a long series. Three spinners, two-seamers, Bharat and Suryakumar Yadav are debuting,” Rohit said at the coin toss.
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