Suryakumar Yadav equals Virat Kohli's record to be fastest Indian to reach 2,000 T20I runs
In a flurry of records that Suryakumar Yadav broke or set in the second T20I against South Africa on Tuesday, one stood the tallest - he equaled Virat Kohli's record of taking the least number of innings (56) to reach 2,000 runs in T20Is.
Overall, he became the third-fastest in the world behind the Pakistani duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to achieve the feat. The Men in Green pair took 52 innings each to reach 2,000 runs.
Suryakumar came to bat when India were 6/2 after two overs, having lost both openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for ducks. The stand-in skipper then changed the complexion of the game with a 36-ball 56.
He initially took off by taking on Gerald Coetzee's pace in the fourth over. The Mumbai Indians batter reached the 2,000-run landmark in the fifth over and slowly got into his groove where no bowler was spared from his ingenuity. Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi got hit for a few against him too but eventually beat Suryakumar on flight with a googly.
He's only the fourth Indian batter to reach 2,000 T20I runs after Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma.
Kohli was the first from India and second overall to get there - on July 3, 2018. Rohit joined him five days later but in his 77th innings. Rahul reached the milestone in September 2022 in his 56th innings.
Suryakumar Yadav also took the least number of balls to reach 2,000 T20I runs
Some observers believe that the number of innings to reach a landmark matters less in T20Is because run accumulation matters less than a player's strike rate.
However, even with that in mind, Suryakumar took the fewest number of deliveries (1,164) to reach 2,000 runs. The previous best was Aaron Finch who took 1,283 balls followed by Glenn Maxwell (1,304), David Miller (1,398), and Rahul (1,415).
India put up 180/7 in the first innings, courtesy of Rinku Singh's 39-ball 68. A spell of rain shortened the game to 15 overs with South Africa required to make 152.
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