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Suryakumar Yadav has emerged as one of the best batters for India in the T20I format in the last few years. He received the T20I player of the year for two consecutive times in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Suryakumar is currently the newest T20I captain of India after Rohit Sharma’s retirement post India’s T20 World Cup victory in 2024. He is known for his unique cricketing shots while batting and has an ability to hit the ball at every side of the stadium.
Suryakumar Yadav is celebrating his 34th birthday on September 14, 2024. The right-handed batsman made his debut for the Indian cricket team in a T20I match against England at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 14, 2021. Since then, he has played 71 T20Is, 37 ODIs and one Test, amassing 3213 runs in all three formats combined.
Suryakumar Yadav Career
Suryakumar Yadav began his cricketing journey by playing for Parsi Gymkhana Cricket Club in Mumbai. He made his first-class debut in 2010 and went on to score most runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2011-12. Suryakumar scored 754 runs from nine matches in that edition. He got his maiden IPL contract in 2011 when Mumbai Indians bought him for ₹10 Lakh in the auction. However, he had to wait one more season to make his IPL debut.
In 2014, Suryakumar Yadav joined Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹70 Lakh. After four years with KKR, his old franchise, MI picked him again for a whopping ₹3.2 Crore in the IPL 2018 auction. He has played 150 matches in his IPL career so far, amassing 3594 runs at a strike rate of 145.32.
After years of hard work, Suryakumar Yadav got his maiden India call-up in 2021 at the age of 30 years. He went on to score half-century in his first innings for India each in T20I and ODI. He has played in the T20I format for India with 2432 runs from 71 matches in the format so far with a strike rate of 168.65 along with four centuries and 20 half-centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav Records
Most Player of the Match award in T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav has turned out to be a match winner for India in the T20I format. He has won 16 Player of the Match awards so far, which is the most by any player in T20I cricket.
Second most runs in T20Is in a calendar year: Suryakumar Yadav scored 1164 runs from 31 T20I matches in the year 2022. With this, he became the second highest run-scorer in T20Is in a calendar year. He is just behind Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan, who scored 1326 runs in 29 matches in 2021.
Second most 100s in T20I cricket: Suryakumar Yadav has smashed four centuries from 71 matches in his career. He is just behind Glenn Maxwell and Rohit Sharma who are jointly at the top spot with five centuries each to their name in the shortest format.
