With 732 runs, Suryakumar Yadav surpassed Shikhar Dhawan's 689 from 2018 to become the player with the most runs in a calendar year, reiterating his standing as India's top T20I hitter in recent memory. Suryakumar, who on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram against South Africa recorded one of his best T20I half-centuries on a seaming pitch, is only 24 runs away from reaching 1000 runs in the format.
He has a remarkable strike rate of 180.29 in 2022, compared to a lifetime strike average of 173.35 through 32 games. In his short career, he has already struck 88 boundaries and 57 sixes. When India was reduced to 17/2 in the seventh over of the opening T20I against South Africa, Suryakumar came onto bat at No. 4. Suryakumar hit two sixes off his first three balls to give the 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 and eight wickets in hand.
With more over three over left and eight wickets in hand, India reached the mark with him unbeaten on 50 off 33 balls.
With the two sixes early in the innings, Suryakumar also surpassed Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan to set a T20I record for the most sixes ever in a calendar year. Martin Guptill also smashed 41 sixes in 2021, breaking Rizwan's previous record of 42 sixes.
With three more months to distance himself from Rizwan, Suryakumar has already increased his 2022 total of sixes to 45, a record in all T20 Internationals.
Suryakumar has smashed the record while batting five times less than Rizwan, who needed 26 innings to hit 42 sixes.
Suryakumar has moved into second place 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.