India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav marked five years in international cricket on Saturday. The stylish right-handed batter, who recently led India to their third ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title, shared his emotions on social media, saying, "Wearing the India jersey is a feeling I can still never fully put into words."
Posting a video of his journey on X (formerly Twitter), Yadav wrote: "5 years ago, a dream turned into reality. Wearing the India jersey is a feeling I can still never fully put into words. Here's to many more memories that we're going to create, for team India."
When did Suryakumar Yadav made international debut?
Suryakumar made his international debut on March 14, 2021, against England in Ahmedabad at the age of 30 years and 181 days. Interestingly, he led India to their T20 World Cup win at the same venue, making history as the first team to win three T20 World Cups, defend their title, and lift the trophy on home soil.
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Although he didn’t bat in his debut match, in the fourth T20I against England that series, he faced his first delivery in international cricket from Jofra Archer and hit it for a six.
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Suryakumar Yadav's stats since making debut
In five years, Suryakumar Yadav has scored 3,272 T20I runs in 113 matches, including four centuries and 25 half-centuries. He is the third-highest T20I run-scorer for India, behind Rohit Sharma (4,231) and Virat Kohli (4,188).
He made his ODI debut on July 18, 2021, against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and his Test debut against Australia in Nagpur in 2023, becoming the first Indian to debut in all three formats after turning 30.
Suryakumar Yadav captained India to T20 World Cup title triumph
Yadav was also named ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022, just a year after his debut. In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, he scored 242 runs, including a stunning boundary catch to dismiss David Miller in the final against South Africa, sealing the win for India.
Despite not having led any major franchise team, Yadav was given the captaincy of India’s T20I side. Under his captaincy, India have played 52 T20Is, winning 42, losing 8, with 2 matches ending without a result. His winning percentage as captain stands at 80.76%.