IPL 2025: Suryakumar Yadav joins Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in elite Indian T20 club

Suryakumar Yadav joins Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in elite Indian T20 club (AP Photo)

As the Mumbai Indians defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets on Monday, Suryakumar Yadav continued his slow but steady comeback to form by smashing a nine-ball 27. SKY became the fifth Indian to reach 8000 runs in T20 cricket with that brief burst of an innings. By the end of the innings, Suryakumar had amassed 8007 runs in the format.

SKY achieved the feat in 288 innings with six hundreds and fifty-four half-centuries at a strike rate of 152.28 and an average of 34.21.

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Suryakumar has amassed 2598 runs with a strike rate of 167.07 and an average of 38.20 in 79 innings. SKY, who also leads India in Twenty20 Internationals, has amassed four hundreds and twenty-one half-centuries.

In T20 cricket, Suryakumar ranks seventh among Indians in terms of runs scored. Above him, with 8654 runs in 319 innings, is Suresh Raina. Rohit Sharma is ranked second with 11,838 runs in 437 innings, while Shikhar Dhawan is ranked third with 9797 runs in 331 innings. With 12,976 runs in 384 innings, Virat Kohli is the highest-scoring Indian in the format.

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Suryakumar put the finishing touches on MI's pursuit of 117 on Monday by smashing three fours and two sixes and finished the game with his signature 'Supla' shot for six after hitting consecutive fours off the opening two balls of Andre Russell's over.

Since India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, Suryakumar, who is widely regarded as the best T20 batter in the world, has been struggling for form.

During his five T20I innings before the IPL this year, Suryakumar amassed a meager average of 5.60 and only managed to score 28 runs at a strike rate of 116.66. SKY scored a 26-ball 29 in MI's four-wicket defeat to CSK to start the IPL season. Then, as MI lost to Gujarat Titans by 36 runs in their second game of the season, Suryakumar hit 48 in 28 balls.