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'He Must Focus On White-Ball Cricket...': BCCI Official on Suryakumar Yadav's Test Exclusion 

image-ljchepdrSKY has been advised to focus on white-ball cricket [Twitter]

India's Test squad for the West Indies tour has created a lot of noise between fans and former players over the selection criteria followed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed men's senior selection committee. One of the main bones of contention was Suryakumar Yadav's exclusion from the Test side, despite being a regular off-late.

The selectors opted to call upcoming batters Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal, in place of Yadav, and Cheteshwar Pujara. Now, speaking to InsideSport, a BCCI official confirmed that SKY will get his chances, but for now, the management wants the maverick batter to focus on white-ball cricket.

The one-Test-old Yadav is a crucial player for India, with as many as two ICC events on the horizon — ICC CWC 2023 and T20 WC 2024. 

Here's what BCCI official said

“It’s obvious that if Surya was in the squad, he would have played ahead of Ruturaj or Yashasvi. And the team wants to try someone new. But Surya is not out of Test plans yet. He is a very important player with Asia Cup and World Cup coming up so, he must focus on white-ball cricket for now. He will get his chance."

The BCCI official further explained that BCCI wants to plan for the future, with age not being on SKY's side. 

SKY, 32, is the No.1 Ranked ICC T20I Batter in the world and made his only Test appearance against Australia earlier this year at Nagpur during the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

“See, Surya is a very capable batter, one of the best in the world at present. But he is also 32 and we have to plan for the future. That is where someone like Yashasvi or Ruturaj comes in. They are clean strikers of the ball, and can dictate pace. If they can prove their mettle, it will be great for Indian cricket,”

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian side will play two Tests against West Indies, which starts July 12. The Tests will be followed by ODIs and T20Is as well.