The duo, who were called up for the England Tests as injury replacements, have completed their quarantine period
While Shaw was added as a back-up opening option, Suryakumar’s inclusion was possibly prompted by the team management’s concern over the fitness of senior batter Ajinkya Rahane, who had not participated in the warm-up match before the first Test because of a swollen left hamstring.
He turned his form around with a fine outing in the domestic one-day Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he made 827 runs in eight innings as he led Mumbai to the title. He continued his form in the first half of the 2021 IPL, where he gave the Delhi Capitals flying starts. His List A numbers since the Australian tour have been phenomenal: 1240 runs in 20 innings at an average of 72.94 and a strike rate of 142.85 including four centuries and as many fifties. He did not enjoy the best of form in the ODIs in Sri Lanka though – 105 runs in three innings – before Covid-19 protocols kept him – and Suryakumar – out of two of the three T20Is.