Suryakumar Yadav tasted a lot of success in 2022 as he went on to establish himself as one of India’s leading batters in white-ball cricket.
His 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.
Overall, Surya played 31 T20I innings last year, amassing 1164 runs at an average of 46.56 and a remarkable strike rate of 187.43, including two hundreds and nine half-centuries.
Thanks to his exploits, Suryakumar Yadav was recently appointed as India’s T20I vice-captain for the home series against Sri Lanka, starting January 3.
On the eve of the opening T20I in Mumbai, India’s new T20I captain Hardik Pandya heaped praise on his deputy, saying Suryakumar could be a vital cog in all three formats of the game going forward.
“I have said in the past for Surya that he played international cricket late. I was always keen from 2020 for him to be a part of the Indian team. But, unfortunately, he was not. So, God gave him what he did not get in the past. He played late but, yes, he got exactly what he would have got earlier as well,” Hardik said during a press conference.
“I can only wish all the best and I hope he continues the run for the Indian team and flourishes more in life and scores more runs. For me and my side, Surya has been fantastic,” he added.
“Going ahead, he is very important for all the formats and I feel in red ball as well. He has the game to kind of change the momentum and the situation if he comes in. I’m sure that the selectors and the captain are looking at him as well,” he further remarked.
Hardik Pandya had no qualms saying that Suryakumar Yadav is the most important player in the Indian white-ball team.
“In white ball, everyone knows, I don’t need to tell how important he is. For us, as captain, for the management he is our most important player. We want him to flourish more,” the skipper stated.
(With PTI inputs)
