IND vs NZ T20I Series: Suryakumar Yadav likely to miss out on Virat Kohli’s record despite stellar 2022

After smashing records left, right and center in the calendar year 2022, India’s Suryakumar Yadav will step out for the final time in the T20I format on Tuesday (November 22) against New Zealand. The clash in Napier will be India’s final T20I in 2022 and mark the year as one of the success stories despite a semifinal exit from the tournament. Suryakumar on the flip side will be disappointed as he is likely to miss out on two records and one of those belongs to former India captain Virat Kohli.

SKY likely to miss out on this Virat Kohli record

As things stand, Suryakumar Yadav has scored 1454 runs in 38 T20 matches in 2022, this includes both T20Is and Indian Premier League (IPL) contests. In 30 T20 matches for India Surya has scored 1151 runs at an average of 47.95. He is currently the highest scorer in the calendar year 2022 in the T20I format, but despite this, he is 160 runs shy of Virat’s record for most runs in a calendar year. The former India captain scored 1614 runs in 2016 in 31 T20 matches.

Virat Kohli in 2016

While Virat’s 973-run record in 2016 remains far from everyone’s reach, Suryakumar still had a stellar year. Virat scored 973 IPL runs in just 16 matches while he also had a fantastic year in T20Is for India, scoring 641 runs in 15 matches, also a record at that time. Since then, Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav have broken his record for most runs.

Looking into the bigger picture, needing to score 160 runs in the third T20I against New Zealand won’t be an impossible task, but will be just a little too much. So, it remains to be seen, whether he can break the record or not in the final T20I on Tuesday (November 22).

Rizwan’s record also unlikely to be broken

Virat’s record won’t be the only one that Surya will eye, he will also have the sight set on Mohammad Rizwan’s record for most runs in a calendar in T20Is. Suryakumar has 1151 T20I runs in 30 matches and needs 175 runs to go level with Rizwan for the most runs in a calendar year. Rizwan achieved his tally of records in 2021 when he amassed 1326 runs in 29 matches.

Had the first T20I between India and New Zealand not been abandoned, the chances of breaking the records would have been more for Suryakumar. He also missed out on two finals – Asia Cup and T20 World Cup and could therefore have intensified his chances of breaking the Virat Kohli and Mohammad Rizwan records.

Most runs in a calendar year

Latest Cricket News