Suryakumra Yadav had a stellar T20I season in 2022. He amassed a total of 1164 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 187.43. This included 68 sixes, something no T20I batter has ever done in a calendar year.
The Mumbai Indians star’s two hundreds and nine fifties – including three at the T20 World Cup 2022 – helped India win 28 of their 40 games last year. Since his debut in March 2021 and end of 2022, Suryakumar has hit 80 sixes.
The tally was 18 more than any batter during the period. He also smashed 106 fours from 621 balls he played in T20I cricket last year. The 32-year-old scored a hundred twice even when none of his teammates passed 36.
His maiden international ton came against England at Trent Bridge. He took just 48 balls to reach the three-figure mark. A 49-ball hundred followed against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui later in the year. He kicked off 2023 with another entertaining hundred off 45 balls against Sri Lanka.
Suryakumar became only the second batter to pile up 1000 T20I runs in a single year. He scored 1164 runs at a strike rate of 187. Mohammad Rizwan had become the first player to achieve the feat in 2021. The opener had amassed 1,326 runs at a strike rate of 134. Suryakumar made those runs while batting at number four.
Further, Harmanpreet Kaur became the first India Women’s cricketer to be named as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year announced in the 2023 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. The skipper of the Women in Blue led the team to a 3-0 ODI series win on English soil, the first since 1999, and a Silver medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
She scored 754 ODI runs in 2021, including an unbeaten 143 in the England ODIs. She piled up 524 T20I runs at an average of 32.75.
