India vs South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav scripts unique record in first T20I

Suryakumar Yadav made headlines on Wednesday, September 28, when his explosive knock of an unbeaten 50 runs off 33 balls helped India to clinch a win over South Africa in the first T20I match. The batter surpassed Shikhar Dhawan’s record to score the highest runs by an Indian in a calendar year.

However, it was not the only record the 32-year-old scripted in the match. He also surpassed Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan to hit the most sixes in T20Is in a single year.

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Yadav’s unbeaten 50 against South Africa came with a strike rate of 151.52, along with five boundaries and three sixes. This helped him to accumulate 45 sixes in T20Is in 2022, three more than Rizwan’s record of 42 sixes in the shortest format of the sport in a single year.

Rizwan’s previous record was registered in 2021 when he hit 42 sixes. As he went down to the second position in the list, New Zealand’s Martin Guptill is currently at the third spot with 41 sixes, which he registered in 2021 as well. While Rizwan achieved the feat in 26 innings in 2021, Yadav did it in five fewer innings (21).

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However, while Yadav surpassed Rizwan in the list of most T20I sixes in a calendar year, he trails behind Rizwan in the latest ICC batting rankings. The Indian star is currently at the second spot with 801 points, 59 points behind Rizwan at the top. However, Yadav has two more points than Pakistan captain Babar Azam (799 points), who is in third place in the rankings.

The rankings were revealed only hours before India’s first T20I match against South Africa on Wednesday, and it is also Yadav’s career-best ranking. He is also the third Indian batter to have 800 or more points in the ICC rankings, after Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, both of whom played against South Africa on Wednesday.