Charismatic India batter Suryakumar Yadav’s string of fine performances in the last few series has seen him became the highest run-scorer for India in a calendar year in T20Is, which bodes well for Rohit Sharma’s team as it aims to reclaim the T20 World Cup crown it won nearly 15 years back.

During the opening T20I against South Africa at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, Suryakumar smashed another unbeaten half-century (50 off 33 balls) as India defeated the visitors by eight wickets with 20 balls to spare in a low-scoring game.

Chasing 107 for victory, opener KL Rahul’s 51 followed by Surya’s unbeaten 50 made the task of achieving the win a cakewalk and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Suryakumar continued his incredible run in T20Is this year, completing more than 700 runs in the format in the year, according to ICC. His tally of runs in T20Is in 2022 is a record for an Indian batter with Surya going past Shikhar Dhawan’s 689 runs in 2018 in the format.

What makes his record even more glorious is the fact that the batter has scored these runs at a strike rate of more than 180 and an average more than 40.

Coming in at No.4 on Wednesday, with India reeling at 17/2 in the seventh over, Surya slammed two maximums off the first three balls he faced to ease the pressure and give the Indian innings a change in momentum after a sluggish start.

He remained unbeaten on 50 off 33 balls as India scaled the target with more than three overs to spare.

With the two sixes early in the innings, Surya also went past Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan to record the most sixes in any calendar year in T20Is. Rizwan held the record for his 42 sixes in 2021 with Martin Guptill also smashing 41 sixes in 2021.

Surya has taken his tally of sixes to 45 in 2022 already, a record in all T20Is, with three more months to widen the gap with Rizwan. While Rizwan took 26 innings to make 42 sixes, Suryakumar has broken the record batting five times fewer.

Surya is up to second position in the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings with 801 rating points after his half-century in the third and final T20I against Australia in Hyderabad.

1. Suryakumar Yadav 732 runs, 40.66 average, 180.29 strike rate, 2022.

2. Shikhar Dhawan 689 runs, 40.52 average, 147.22 strike rate, 2018.

3. Virat Kohli 641 runs, 106.83 average, 140.26 strike rate, 2016.

4. Rohit Sharma 590 runs, 36.87 average, 147.5 strike rate, 2018.

5. Rohit Sharma 497 runs, 29.23 average, 131.48 strike rate, 2016.

6. Rohit Sharma 497 runs, 26.15 average, 146.17 strike rate, 2022.

Friday’s second T20I match between India and Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Jamtha is likely to be impacted with rains that lashed the city overnight and early morning.

With Nagpur under a wet spell for the last few days, the bosses at the Vidarbha Cricket Association are spending their days in trepidation as rain is predicted for the match day too. The match tickets at the 45,000-capacity stadium is already sold out and they will have to refund the buyers in case the match does not go ahead.

Both the teams landed in Orange City on Wednesday afternoon and were greeted by heavy rain in the evening and the intervening night. There were showers early on Thursday morning and though the rain has abated around 10 am, heavy cloud cover over the city means, there is always a threat of more rain.

In such conditions, the sun did not bother to even take a peek at the City, thus further reducing the chances of the ground getting dry on Thursday itself.

The morning spell of rain forced both Australia and India to cancel their scheduled practice session in the afternoon and evening. The players did not travel to the stadium, engaging in a light gym session at the team hotel.

The groundsmen removed the covers around noon to check but with the threat of a drizzle looming, put them back soon. According to VCA officials, they are running the super sopper and ensuring there no leakage, hoping that there is no further rain on Thursday and Friday.

Nagpur is hosting its first international match in three years and there is lot of enthusiasm among fans, who purchased the tickets online within a few minutes. Even then the telephone at the VCA’s oid stadium in the City is ringing off the hook with people still enquiring whether tickets were available offline.

The stadium is more than 20km far from the City and the VCA is facing some lots of issues regarding providing parking spaces for the spectators that take their own vehicles.

 One of the best hockey players ever produced by the country, Dhanraj Pillay, who was picked for the national camp after excelling in the 1987 National Games in Kerala, says the 36th edition of the Games is a perfect platform for India’s promising sportspersons to graduate to the international level.

Pillay made his India debut two years later in 1989 and went on to dazzle the world with his dribbling skills and speed for 15 years, becoming the only player to play in four Olympics, four World Cups, four Champion Trophies editions and four Asian Games.

Pillay hopes that the 36th National Games in Gujarat, from September 29 to October 12, will similarly throw up fresh talents who will then go on to wear the tricolor with distinction.

“I was one of the many players picked up for the India camp after the Kerala National Games, which is the most important championship in Indian sport. I am happy the event is making its comeback after seven years and hope the national selectors will be present to pick new talents for the national camp,” the 54-year-old former India spearhead who has scored around 170 goals in his 339 appearances for the ‘men in light blue’, was quoted as saying by the organisers.

Pillay also highlighted the sporting benefits that would accrue to the people of Gujarat as a result of the infrastructure built to host the National Games, based on his own experience of what the 1994 edition did to his home city, Pune.

“Pune has become a sports city after the birth of the Balewadi Sports Complex, which was built to host the 1994 National Games,” said Pillay, who is coming up with a national sports academy in Bengaluru.

“It gave the city a different look and the same venue went on to host several international events over the years, providing a fillip to various sports in the region.”

Pillay hoped the infrastructure for the 2022 edition, which he felt was up to international standards, would inspire many youngsters to take to sports in Gujarat.

He also expressed optimism that the facilities would be productively ulitised thereafter, and Gujarat would promote the venues (the Games will be staged in six cities across the state) and host many international events in the future.