Star India batter to be ruled out of 1st Test of Border-Gavaskar trophy: Reports

India will face off against New Zealand in the final T20I on February 1, Wednesday and it remains to be seen if the Hardik Pandya-led team would clinch the series, given the contest is tied 1-1. Post the conclusion of the series, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will take on Pat Cummins-led Australia in a four-match Test series.

Ahead of the much-awaited series, reports emerged on Wednesday claiming that the star Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer might be ruled out of the 1st Test as the right-handed batter is yet to recover from the injury. For the unversed, the first Test is slated on February 9 and it will be a huge series for the Indian team to make it through to the finals of the Test championships set to take place later this year, post the conclusion of the Indian T20 League.

“His injury hasn’t healed as expected and he will take two weeks at least to play cricket again. He will certainly not be available for the first Test and his availability for the second Test will be subject to his fitness report,” Indian Express quoted a source as saying and in all likelihood, it would be Suryakumar Yadav who would be playing in the middle order.

Can Suryakumar Yadav live upto expectations in Tests for India?

The right-handed batter is on the brink of bagging the highest-ever ranking points garnered in the history of T20Is and has not been at his very best in the 50-over format. With Iyer getting ruled out of the initial Test vs the Baggy Greens, Suryakumar would most likely replace him in the middle-order and it remains to be seen if the batter would fare out well in the longest format of the game as well.

On the other hand, the first Test might reportedly see the return of veteran allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, after proving his might in the Ranji game against Tamil Nadu where the allrounder picked up a seven-for to his name. With Jadeja back in the lower order, the spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja would look to rattle the Baggy Greens in the series.