Suryakumar Yadav in touching distance of breaking Virat Kohli's massive T20 records to become the best Indian batter

By Karan Rawat Nov 17, 2022, 17:44 IST

After losing the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022, both New Zealand and India will lock horns against each other in a white-ball series. Both teams will play a three-match T20I series starting on Friday, November 18, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series.

The first T20I will begin at 12 IST at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. However, both teams have given rest to some of their senior players for the series. New Zealand has rested Martin Guptill and Trent Boult, while India has given rest to Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul.

Hardik Pandya will lead the team in the T20I series and Shikhar Dhawan in ODIs. And with no Virat in the T20Is, more added responsibility will depend on how Suryakumar Yadav performs in the series.

SKY is currently in the form of his life, and if he carries that form into the T20I series as well, he can break one of Virat's T20 records. The former Indian captain made 1614 T20 runs in 2016 in 31 games at an average of 89.66 and a strike rate of 147.14.

This was the same year when he set the record for most runs in a single edition of the IPL. He scored 973 runs in 16 games, including four centuries. Virat's tally of 1614 T20 runs is the highest by an Indian in a calendar year in the shortest format.

It is also the 7th most all-time by any batter in T20, and is behind Mohammad Rizwan (twice), Babar Azam, Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, and Shan Masood. While Suryakumar needs 236 runs in three games to go past the former Indian captain and break the record.

SKY has scored 1379 runs in 39 T20 games in 2022 at an average of 43.09 and a staggering strike rate of 173.89, including one century and 12 half-centuries. He also ended the T20 WC 2022 as the third highest run scorer.

SKY scored 239 runs in six games at an average and strike rate of 59.75 and 189.68, with three half-centuries. The Indian team lost to England in the semi-final and was knocked out of the tournament.