India has produced several great batters over the years who have scored thousands of runs, playing the conventional way, but perhaps have been as fearless, unconventional, and yet so destructive as Suryakumar Yadav has.
Suryakumar’s peculiar batting prowess was once again on display in Team India’s last Super 12 encounter in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 against Zimbabwe on Sunday (November 06). He smashed 61* off mere 25 balls at a strike rate of 244.
With this knock and KL Rahul’s classic 51, India registered a massive total of 186/5 that proved to be well out of reach of their opponent.
So far in the tournament, Yadav not only has racked up 225 runs in 5 games but has done it at a staggering strike rate of 193.97.
Earlier this week, he dethroned Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan to take the top spot in the ICC rankings of T20I batters. 37 T20Is is all it took for 'SKY' to reach the top.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir was mighty impressed by the star batter’s performance in the showpiece event. Gambhir went on to say that the right-hander is his player of the tournament.
“There are players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma, who are very orthodox players. Suryakumar Yadav is different. Enjoy, watch and relish it. Because you don't get these kind of players that often and India has never had this kind of player, especially batting at No.4. You will get traditional players who will give you much more consistency, but imagine the strike rate if Suryakumar, what was it, 180 I guess? Above 200 runs, three fifties...he is the Player of the Tournament for me already even if India don't go on to win it. He is already the best because the kind of impact he has had,” he said while speaking to Star Sports after the match on Sunday.
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The Indian team has scored more runs in the middle overs than any other team in the world this year, and the 32-year-old has been a big contributor to that success. No other batter in the world who bats at number 4 has as high a strike rate as Yadav, according to the former cricketer.
“He does not get the luxury of playing those first six overs. But he bats at No.4 and with a strike rate of 175/180. No batter at No.4 has that kind of an impact in this World Cup.”
The Men in Blue will now take on England in the semifinals on Thursday (November 10) at the Adelaide Oval.
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
