Suryakumar Yadav shined for India in their first Super 8s stage match in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 on June 20. India faced off against Afghanistan in Barbados and managed to defeat their Asian cousins by 47 runs.
India won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan on a pitch that Rohit Sharma described as dry and slowing down as the game progressed.
Rohit Sharma was out for 8 runs early, and Virat Kohli was bowled for 24 in 24 deliveries following a brief partnership with Rishabh Pant (20). Suryakumar Yadav (53 in 28) and his 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya (32) helped save India’s innings.
Akshar Patel’s late hitting powered India to 181/8 after 20 overs. For Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rashid Khan each took three wickets.
In response, Afghanistan’s top order attempted to attack the Indian bowlers in the powerplay and lost wickets at regular intervals. Azmatullah Omarzai led the way with 26 points, followed by Najibullah Zadran (19) and Gulbadin Naib (17). Afghanistan scored only 134 runs, and India won by 47 runs.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah grabbed 3/7, Arshdeep Singh took 3/36, while Kuldeep Yadav claimed two wickets in his first game of the tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav equals Virat Kohli’s Player of the Match record in half the time
Suryakumar Yadav was named the Player of the Match for his important fifty as he helped India rebuild the innings from 54/2 in 7 overs. It was his 15th Player of the Match award in T20Is – the joint-most by any cricketer in this format.
Surya equaled Virat Kohli’s world record. To put his brilliance in context, Surya won 15 Player of the Match awards in just 64 matches, averaging one every fourth match. Kohli, on the other hand, needed 113 matches to reach 15 Player of the Match accolades.
Most POTM awards in T20Is:
15- Suryakumar Yadav
15- Virat Kohli
14- Virandeep Singh
14- Sikandar Raza
14- Mohammad Nabi
Since his India T20I debut in 2021, Suryakumar Yadav has been a beast in the format. He has scored 2253 runs in 61 innings at an average of 45.06 at a strike rate of 168.51, He has three centuries to his name and is the no.1 ranked T20I batter in ICC rankings for a long time.
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