Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian batting superstar, was on fire against the Netherlands in Team India's second Super 12 encounter of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Thursday (October 27).
The right-handed batter began at number four and went unbeaten to the end. During his time at the crease, he faced a total of 25 deliveries and made 51 not out with the help of seven fours and one six. He reached fifty on the last ball of the Indian innings, smashing Logan van Beek for a six.
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It was his tenth half-century in 36 T20Is, and Surya became the leading run-scorer in T20Is in 2022 on Thursday, when he hit his first ten runs. He surpassed Pakistan's standout wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan's record of 825 runs from 19 matches to take the top spot. The Indian right-handed batter was playing his 25th T20I match of 2022 at Sydney Cricket Ground, and he now has 867 runs at an average of 41.28 and a strike rate of 184.86.
Surya has one century and seven fifties in 2022, with his greatest batting performance coming against England on July 10 in Nottingham. Surya became the sixth Indian batter to register a T20I century, joining Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Deepak Hooda. In that game, he faced a total of 55 balls and scored 117 runs with 14 fours and 6 sixes.
Surya, who holds the record for most T20I runs scored by an Indian batsman in a calendar year, will attempt to become the first Men in Blue cricketer to reach 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year. He will play at least three more T20Is in the upcoming T20 World Cup, and if India goes to the knockout stages, he would get a couple more opportunities.
Surya is now 42 runs ahead of Rizwan, who may reclaim the top spot if he can close the gap against Zimbabwe in Match 24 of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
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