Mohali, Oct 16: Left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh today became the ninth Indian to follow his father's footsteps to the world of Test cricket when he made his debut against New Zealand here. The 21-year-old, who played 73 one-day internationals before playing a Test, was included in the team as a replacement for Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, who pulled out of the tie after a surgery on his left thigh for an abscess.
Yuvraj's father, Yograj Singh was a medium pacer who played only one Test match for India against the same opponent in Wellington during the 1980-81 series. The credit for being the first father-son combination to represent the country in Tests goes to the legendary Indian skipper Lala Amarnath and his sons Surinder Amarnath and Mohinder Amarnath. Since then six other father-son pairings have featured in Indian Test teams. They include Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi-Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Vinoo Mankad-Ashok Mankad, Pankaj Roy-Pranav Roy, Vijay Manjrekar-Sanjay Manjrekar, Dattajirao Gaikwad-Anshuman Gaikwad and Hemant Kanitkar-Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Bureau Report