India vs Australia: Request selectors to check his records, Harbhajan asks BCCI to pick this batsman for Down Under tour

Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has backed Suryakumar Yadav after the Mumbai batsman missed out on being selected for India's upcoming tour of Australia.   

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Team India's 18-man squad for the four-month Down Under tour on Monday and like always, there have been several debates around the selection. While the Indian board has been applauded for including young talents such as Varun Chakravarthy and Navdeep Saini, many have criticized the Sunil Joshi-led BCCI's selection committee for repeatedly ignoring players such as Suryakumar, who has been consistent in the domestic circuit and the IPL.

Harbhajan, who led Mumbai Indians (MI) to the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 title, has asked BCCI to check MI batsman Suryakumar's records. Suryakumar has been the top-scorer amongst uncapped cricketers in the past two seasons of the IPL.

"Don't know what else Suryakumar Yadav needs to do get picked in the Team India.. he has been performing every ipl and Ranji season..different people different rules I guess @BCCI I request all the selectors to see his records," Harbhajan Singh tweeted.

In the ongoing IPL 2020, Suryakumar is among MI's top three batters, having scored 283 runs in 10 innings at 31.44 at a strike-rate of almost 150. He has registered two half-centuries and has a high score of an unbeaten 79 in the ongoing 13th edition of IPL.

In addition to that, Suryakumar has been an excellent fielder had has pulled off some stunning catches in the tournament, including the amazing one he took to dismiss Rahul Tripathi of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

According to the provisional schedule, India's Down Under tour will kickstart in Sydney. A few limited-overs matches are also expected to be played in Canberra. The first Test between India and Australia is set to begin on Dec. 17 at the Adelaide Oval. The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will be hosting the Boxing Day Test, with Adelaide as the back-up venue. The third and fourth Tests are scheduled to take place in Sydney and Brisbane.

Team India's 18-man squad for Australia tour 2020-21:

India's T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vc & wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy

India's ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vc & wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur

India's Test squad: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj