Suryakumar Yadav to play Buchi Babu Tournament for Mumbai

MUMBAI: India men’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav will be playing the pre-season Buchi Babu Invitational tournament for Mumbai from third round of the league stage, confirmed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

In a statement issued by Joint Secretary Deepak Patil, MCA said Suryakumar will feature in Mumbai’s match against TNCA XI starting on August 27 in Coimbatore. Mumbai, the current Ranji Trophy holders, are placed alongside TNCA XI and Haryana in Group C of the 2024 edition of the Buchi Babu tournament, starting on August 15.

Mumbai will be captained by India Test batter Sarfaraz Khan in the competition seen by many as vital preparation for the upcoming 2024/25 domestic season. Suryakumar was last seen in action when he captained India to a 3-0 T20I series sweep over Sri Lanka at Pallekele last month.

He wasn't picked for the subsequent three-match ODI series in Colombo, as senior men’s selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar stated that the right-handed batter didn’t figure in their immediate 50-over plans at the moment.

With India’s next T20I assignment being the three-game home series against Bangladesh in October, Suryakumar has the Buchi Babu tournament, followed by the Duleep Trophy in Anantapur to present a case for himself to be included in the Test team.

Suryakumar has just one Test appearance, coming on debut Australia at Nagpur in February 2023. In 82 first-class matches, Suryakumar has scored 5628 runs, averaging 43.62 with the help of 29 fifties and 14 hundreds.

Mumbai squad: Sarfaraz Khan (Captain), Divyansh Saxena, Amogh Bhatkal, Akhil Herwadkar, Siddhesh Lad, Musheer Khan, Nutan Goel, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore, Prasad Pawar, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Himanshu Singh, Dhanit Raut, Sylvester Dsouza, Junaid Khan, Harsh Tanna, and Suryakumar Yadav (available from August 27).