Suryakumar Yadav joins Virat Kohli, Babar Azam in huge T20I record after spectacular knock

Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday played a spectacular knock during the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka in Rajkot. Yadav smashed a record third T20I century of his career as he finished at an unbeaten score of 112 off 51 balls. With the feat, Yadav also joined an elite list of cricketers featuring Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Aaron Finch, and Babar Azam. Yadav has now become the third-fastest player to reach the 1500-run mark in T20Is. 

Yadav took 43 innings to reach the landmark of 1500 runs in the shortest format for India. Kohli, Rahul, Finch, and Azam all took 39 innings to achieve the feat of 1500 runs in T20 Internationals. Mohammad Rizwan is the second-fastest to score 1500 T20I runs as he took 42 innings. Yadav is also the first batsman to reach the milestone with a strike rate of 150 or more. 

Fastest to 1500 runs in T20Is

• Virat Kohli - 39 innings
• KL Rahul - 39 innings
• Aaron Finch - 39 innings
• Babar Azam - 39 innings
• Mohammad Rizwan - 42 innings
• Suryakumar Yadav - 43 innings

Yadav now stands second on the list of players to score the most number of centuries in T20I cricket. While Yadav hit his 3rd century in the format on Saturday, Rohit Sharma (4) is the only player to score more hundreds than him. Glenn Maxwell, Colin Munro, and Sabawoon Davizi are the other cricketers who have three T20I centuries to their credit.

Yadav completed his century in just 45 balls and registered India’s second-fastest hundred in the format. Rohit owns the record for scoring India’s fastest century in just 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017. Interestingly, Yadav has hit all three of his centuries in the format in fewer than 50 balls. The Mumbai cricketer hit a total of nine sixes en route to his knock of 112 runs against Sri Lanka.

Yadav's century helped India post a mammoth total of 228/5 in 20 overs. Indian bowlers then bowled Sri Lanka out for just 137 runs to win the third and final T20I by a huge margin of 91 runs. This is India's fourth-biggest win in T20Is in terms of margin of runs. Thanks to the win, India secured the three-match series 2-1. Yadav was named the player of the match for his outstanding knock. 

Image: AP