Suryakumar Yadav named ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022

India’s Suryakumar Yadav. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Swashbuckling Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav was on Wednesday named the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for his ridiculously good run in the shortest format of the game.

Surya had a stellar 2022, breaking an array of records and setting a benchmark in the format.

He beat the likes of Sam Curran, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and Zimbabwe’s batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza for the top honour.

However, India vice-captain and last year’s Cricketer of the Year Smriti Mandhana lost out to Australia’s Tahlia McGrath in the women’s category.

SKY’s stellar year

Popularly known as ‘SKY’, the 32-year-old became just the second batter to make more than 1,000 runs in a calendar year in T20Is and ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164 runs at a strike-rate of 187.43.

Surya hit a stunning 68 sixes during the year, easily the most recorded by anyone in a year in the format’s history.

The Indian was the key batter for his team through the year, smashing two hundreds and nine half-centuries.

Surya was at his stupendous best during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, recording three fifties in six innings and averaging nearly 60.

Notably, his strike-rate was yet again right up there at 189.68.

Having already recorded a ton earlier in the year, Suryakumar continued his brilliant year after the multi-nation tournament, making his second hundred in T20Is in the bilateral series in New Zealand.

Surya also became the top-ranked T20 player, achieving a career-high 890 rating points.