India's Suryakumar Yadav displayed his batting prowess in the first game of the series against South Africa, shattering numerous records at the Greenfield International Stadium in the game's shortest format. Star batsman Suryakumar blasted a match-winning half-century to help India defeat the Proteas convincingly in a contest where batting legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had forgettable performances. India easily defeated the Proteas in the first T20I to grab a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Suryakumar hit 50 off 33 balls.
Suryakumar has racked up 976 runs in 32 matches for Team India in his remarkable T20I career. In the shortest format of the game, the star hitter is 24 runs short of reaching 1,000 runs. In the second Twenty20 International between India and South Africa on Sunday, the swashbuckling batter known as Sky can reach the milestone.
ALSO READ: India vs. South Africa at Guwahati has"sold out."
Suryakumar is second on India's list of top T20I cricket run scorers, trailing all-rounder Hardik Pandya. In 73 games, Pandya has scored 989 runs. In just 31 innings, Suryakumar may match Mohammad Rizwan's record of 1,000 runs in T20 international play. The 32-year-old will pass the second-oldest Indian hitter to 1,000 runs in T20 Internationals with just a 24-run inning.
The quickest Indian player to 1,000 runs in T20 international cricket is former Indian captain Virat Kohli (27). KL Rahul, who accomplished the difficult feat in 29 innings, comes in second behind Kohli. For the 2007 global champions, Suryakumar may become the ninth Indian batsman to score 1,000 runs in T20 international cricket. Suryakumar is ready to become a member of the exclusive club that includes players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, and Suresh Raina.
ALSO READ: Phil Salt lauds England team-mates for backing him
Suryakumar set a new record for India's greatest run-scorer in a calendar year on Wednesday during the series-opener against South Africa, continuing his remarkable run in T20I cricket. In 2022, Suryakumar scored 732 runs at an astounding strike rate of 180.29. The Mumbai Indians (MI) superstar outperformed Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan with a thrilling knock that included two sixes. In any given year, the Indian batter has hit the most sixes (45). While Martin Guptill of New Zealand smacked 41 sixes in 2021, Rizwan had scored 42.
ALSO READ: Wasim Jaffer believes that Team India hurried into playing Jasprit Bumrah