Sachin Tendulkar to Irfan Pathan: How did cricket fraternity react to Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar's maiden T20I call-ups

Suryakumar Yadav, who has proved to be a key figure in the Mumbai Indians setup, was finally rewarded for his consistency. He had amassed 480 runs in 16 IPL matches for the Mumbai franchise in the previous edition held in UAE. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan's name was added to the squad on a day when the 22-year old kicked-off this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy on a commanding note and smashed 173 runs from 94 deliveries.

Both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav play for Mumbai Indians in IPL (Twitter/mipaltan)

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tewatia, Suryakumar Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy for their maiden call-up to Team India for the upcoming T20I series against England. Wishing the four uncapped cricketers, Tendulkar said playing for the country is the highest honour for any cricketer.

Heartiest congratulations @ishankishan51, @rahultewatia02 & @surya_14kumar for your maiden call up to the Indian Team, and also to @chakaravarthy29, who missed out in Australia.

Playing for  is the highest honour for any cricketer.

Wishing you all a lot of success.

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 21, 2021

BCCI on Saturday announced India's squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England, starting from March 12.

Kishan's name was added to the squad on a day when the 22-year old kicked-off this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy on a commanding note and smashed 173 runs from 94 deliveries. 

Delighted for @surya_14kumar and @ishankishan51. That is how you do it. You break the door down with performances. And what a lovely story @rahultewatia02! Look forward to calling the action when you are in!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 21, 2021

Suryakumar, who proved to be a key figure in the Mumbai Indians setup, was finally rewarded for his consistency. He had amassed 480 runs in 16 IPL matches for the Mumbai franchise in the previous edition in UAE. Suryakumar was overlooked for the limited overs matches in Australia late last year despite a fine IPL, leaving many in the Indian cricket fraternity surprised.

The feeling is surreal pic.twitter.com/RccRbyYpx4 — Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) February 21, 2021

Huge congrats to @ishankishan51 and @surya_14kumar go well fellas  — Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) February 20, 2021

Kolkata Knight Rider's (KKR) spinner Varun Chakravarthy, was also named in the squad besides Rajasthan Royals' Rahul Tewatia. Chakravarthy had an amazing season with the ball in IPL 2020 and finished the tournament with 17 wickets from 13 matches. He was also roped in India's T20 squad for Australia tour but was replaced by T Natarajan after sustaining an injury on his shoulder. 

Grit. Guts. And now, glory 

Send a  if you’re happy for SKY and Kishan #OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #INDvENG @surya_14kumar @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/2QlkwN1HoC — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 20, 2021

Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh also congratulated the cricketers for their inclusion in the Indian squad. 

Finally the wait is over for @surya_14kumar congratulations buddy. Goodluck @ishankishan51 @rahultewatia02 for your debut guys — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 20, 2021

So good to finally @surya_14kumar in Team India  Good luck — Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 20, 2021

Congratulations @ishankishan51 very good to see him Team India..  — Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 20, 2021

India's T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur