September 29 2022: Suryakumar Yadav became the highest run-scorer for India in a calendar year in T20Is during the first T20I against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
India v South Africa, 1st T20I Scorecard
Suryakumar Yadav continued his incredible run in T20Is in 2022, completing more than 700 runs in the format in the year. His tally of runs in T20Is in 2022 is a record for an Indian batter with Suryakumar going past Shikhar Dhawan’s 689 runs in 2018 in the format.
What makes his record even more outrageous is the fact that Yadav has scored these runs at a strike rate of more than 180 and an average more than 40.
| Player | Runs | Batting average | Strike rate | Year |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 732 | 40.66 | 180.29 | 2022 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 689 | 40.52 | 147.22 | 2018 |
| Virat Kohli | 641 | 106.83 | 140.26 | 2016 |
| Rohit Sharma | 590 | 36.87 | 147.5 | 2018 |
| Rohit Sharma | 497 | 29.23 | 131.48 | 2016 |
| Rohit Sharma | 497 | 26.15 | 146.17 | 2022 |
Walking in at No.4 in the first T20I against South Africa with India reduced to 17/2 in the seventh over, Yadav hit two sixes off his first three balls to give the Indian innings a change in momentum after a slow start.
He remained unbeaten on 50 off 33 balls as India scaled the target with more than three overs to spare.
With the two sixes early in the innings, Yadav also went past Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan to record the most sixes in any calendar year in T20Is. Rizwan held the record for his 42 sixes in 2021 with Martin Guptill also smashing 41 sixes in 2021.
Yadav has taken his tally of sixes to 45 in 2022 already, a record in all T20Is, with three more months to widen the gap with Rizwan. While Rizwan took 26 innings to make 42 sixes, Suryakumar has broken the record batting five times fewer.
Yadav is up to second position in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings with 801 rating points after his half-century in the third and final T20I against Australia in Hyderabad.
