Suryakumar Yadav becomes fourth Indian cricketer to register major T20 milestone; joins Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan

India captain Suryakumar Yadav faced heavy scrutiny over his form ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. The Mumbai batter, however, remained unfazed, stating that he has been batting well in the nets and has no intention of altering his approach, which has delivered consistent success over the past few years.

He backed his words with an explosive start in the match, tearing into the New Zealand attack during the powerplay. Suryakumar opened his innings with a classy drive for four and maintained the attacking tempo to reach a major personal milestone. Needing just 25 runs, he went on to complete 9,000 runs in T20 cricket during the course of his innings.

The achievement placed him among an elite group, making him only the fourth Indian batter after Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan to cross the 9,000-run mark in the format. The 35-year-old has accumulated the bulk of his T20 runs in the IPL, having previously represented Kolkata Knight Riders before becoming a key figure for the Mumbai Indians.

Most runs in T20 cricket:

India lost two early wickets

Returning to the top of the order, Sanju Samson has failed to establish his authority in the middle. The keeper-batter made 10 runs off seven balls before Kyle Jamieson got the better of him. Ishan Kishan, who featured at number three in place of Tilak Varma, struggled as well. He made eight runs off five balls but Jacob Duffy sent him packing. 

On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma once again wreaked havoc, smacking a 22-ball half-century. He has been a force to reckon with in the shortest format of the game and the performance will only boost his confidence ahead of the marquee tournament. Abhishek is also heading towards 5000 runs in the format.