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India's star T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is considered as one of the best short format players in the world, turned 33 on Thursday.
Suryakumar is a late bloomer in international cricket, aged 31 during his international debut against England in March 2021. The start to Suryakumar's international career, a crackling 'Calypso Shot' on a delivery by Jofra Archer, one of the leading speedsters in the world left the entire cricketing world in awe. From then on the word 'Audacity' found a new synonym in him. For the coming next two years, he exhibited his collection of extraordinary, jaw-dropping, audacious 360-degree shots all over the park, in various corners of the world. The result is, a T20I career worth envy. In 53 matches and 50 innings so far, he has scored 1,841 runs at an average of 46.02 and a strike rate of 172.70. He has scored three centuries and 15 fifties in his T20I career, with the best score of 117 against England in their home territory. Such a combination of consistency, centuries, and explosiveness is something rare in T20Is. Suryakumar is also the part of Team India which reached the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. In six matches, he scored 239 runs at an average of 59.75 and a strike rate of almost 190, with three half-centuries and best score of 68 against South Africa. He was the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament behind Netherlands Max O'Dowd (242 in eight matches) and Virat Kohli (296 in six matches). 'SKY' was not the limit for the batter as he ended 2022 at the top of the T20I charts, scoring 1,164 runs in 31 matches at an average of 46.56 with a strike rate of over 187, two centuries and nine fifties. These performances earned him the 'ICC T20I Player of the Year' award in 2022. Suryakumar's T20I strike rate is the highest-ever career SR in T20I history. Also, with 12 'Player of the Match' awards in just 53 outings, he has the third-highest POTM awards in the format, behind Mohammed Nabi (14 in 109 matches) and Virat Kohli (15 in 115 matches). Surya is a T20 specialist. In 263 T20Is and 240 innings, he has scored 6,669 runs at an average of 35.28 and a strike rate of over 151. He has four centuries and 44 fifties, with the best score of 117. He has represented Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In 139 matches, he has scored 3,249 runs at an average of 32.17 and a SR of over 143. He has one century and 21 fifties, with the best score of 103*. Suryakumar was the part of IPL 2014 winning KKR team and MI team which won the IPL in 2013, 2019 and 2020. He is one of the most successful players in IPL history, with over 3,000 runs and four trophies. However, he is yet to fully fire in ODIs. In 26 ODIs and 24 innings, he has scored 511 runs at an average of 24.33 and a strike rate of above 101. Besides two half-centuries and a 'Player of the Series' award in his debut ODI series, he has not really cracked the ODI code, as he admits himself, but there are no doubts over him being lethal and an 'X Factor' if he does, especially with the 50-over World Cup being around the corner. (ANI)
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