&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL's best Indian player? He has most T20I runs for India since debut, won a T20 World Cup and 2 IPLs in a row, TWICE")
There have been only 14 players who have made their debut for India right after winning an IPL title and the best one among them has been Suryakumar Yadav - who is now the India T20I skipper as well. SKY, as he is fondly called, has been India's best batter in the shortest format ever since his debut on March 14, 2021. He had to wait a long time for the his turn but once given, he has proved the decision to give him a chance as priceless. SKY recently went through a sports hernia surgery and will next be seen against Bangladesh in August 2025.
Surya, before taking over the T20I reins from Rohit Sharma after India won 2024 T20 World Cup, played two more T20 World Cups - 2021 and 2022 and was easily one of India's best batters. In the IPL, he has won four titles - three with Mumbai Indians and one with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
He is also the only international IPL player to win his titles two in a row twice - 2013 with MI and 2014 with KKR before winning with MI in 2019 and 2020 as well.
Suryakumar Yadav stats since debut in 2021
SKY has scored 2,598 runs in 83 T20I matches played since he debut - the tally, most for India in this period, is third most overall behind Pakistan's Muhammad Rizwan (2,904) and UAE's Mohammad Waseem (2,660). His strike rate of 167.07 is the highest among all players with 50 matches minimum and so are his four hundreds.
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SKY in T20 World Cups
In 2021, Surya played just three innings and scored 42 runs in total with a highest of 25 not out but a strike rate of 144. In 2022/23 edition, SKY played six matches and scored 239 runs - third best overall and only behind Virat Kohli's 296 for India - with three fifties and a strike rate of 189.68 - the best in the tournament overall. In 2024, he scored 199 runs in eight matches - again second best for India behind Rohit's 257 runs.
Undoubtedly, SKY India's best T20I player since his debut and would hope to cap his career with T20 title defence next year.
