India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav once again proved why he is rated so highly in the shortest format of the game. He played a sensational knock in the second T20I game against hosts South Africa on Tuesday. On the challenging wicket at St George's Park in Gqeberha, India’s 360 batter ended up scoring 56 runs in just 36 balls and also extended his dominance in the ICC Men's T20I Batter Rankings.
Coming into bat first, the Indian team lost two openers in quick succession but then Surya teamed up with Rinku and powered India to a challenging total in the rain-marred contest. India’s skipper after smashing his half-century earned 10 rating points to further boost his lead in the ICC batter rankings. Suryakumar Yadav has collected 865 rating points and as a result, he has sealed the top spot in the men's T20I rankings.
After Surya, Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan is standing with 787 rating points while South Africa's Aiden Markram is next on the list with 758 points in the ICC batter rankings.
Talking about the recently passed second T20I between India and South Africa, Surya alongside Rinku Singh helped India post a fighting total of 180-7 in 19.3 overs. On the back of his half-century, India’s skipper also breached the 2000-run mark to match Virat Kohli's feat.
"At the halfway stage, I thought it was a par score but they batted beautifully in the first 5-6 overs and took the game away from us. It was the brand of cricket we were talking about, just go out and express ourselves. It was tough with the wet ball, but we would face similar situations in the future and it's a good learning for us. Looking forward to the third T20I," Suryakumar said after South Africa beat India by 5 wickets in Gqeberha.