Having made his international debut last year, Suryakumar Yadav has established himself as one of India’s leading batters in white-ball cricket.

In 42 T20Is, Yadav has amassed 1408 runs at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 180.97, including two hundreds and 12 half-centuries. He has also made a mark in ODIs, scoring 384 runs from 16 matches at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 100.52 with two fifties.

Surya’s batting was one of the highlights of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. The dashing right-hander scored 239 runs in six matches at a sensational strike rate of 189.68 with three half-centuries, which came against Netherlands, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

For his knock against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav received accolades from the fans and former cricketer alike. On a fast and bouncy Perth pitch, he took on the fearsome Proteas attack and scored 68 off 40 balls, taking India’s total to a respectable 133/9 in 20 overs.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Surya picked his fifty against South Africa in the T20 World Cup as the best innings of his career so far, citing that it was a difficult track to bat on.

"I think that half-century against South Africa in Perth was the defining knock for me. It was the most challenging wicket I have faced till date. Before the game, I went to bat in the nets for 15 minutes and I got the feeling of Perth there itself. The practice pitches were quick. So I faced a mere 15 balls and told Vicky paaji (batting coach Vikram Rathod) that I am done for the day, whatever batting is to be done will be done in the match," he stated.

"When I went in to bat, I told myself that this pitch is quicker than I thought. So, when I went to the non-striker’s end, I kept thinking which shots I could play as there was bounce too. When we were 49 for 5, we had nothing to lose. We could have got all out for 75, but I decided to take the positive route," he further added.

Unfortunately for Suryakumar Yadav, his jaw-dropping knock went in vain as South Africa rode on half-centuries from David Miller (59* off 46 balls) and Aiden Markram (52 off 41 balls) to overhaul the target with two deliveries to spare.