India batter Suryakumar Yadav has been named the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2023. The India batter has won the award for the second time in a row.
Suryakuamr scored 733 runs in 17 innings at an average of 48.86 while striking at 155.95 in 2023.
The destructive middle-order batter smashed four half-centuries and two hundreds in 2023.
Suryakumar was also handed over the captaincy following the injury to India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and took the role like a duck to water.
He hit half-centuries against Australia (80 off 42 balls) and South Africa (56 from 36 balls), before scoring a century against the Proteas off just 56 deliveries in India’s final T20I of the year in Johannesburg.
The year also saw the Mumbai Indians batter smash India’s second-fastest hundred in T20Is, getting to the three-figure mark against Sri Lanka off just 45 deliveries. His knock was second only to Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball effort against the same opponent in 2017.
The Mumbai-born batter registered his fourth T20I century in 2023, going level with Rohit and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell with the most tons in the shortest format of the game. However, Suryakumar’s feat was soon eclipsed by Rohit after he smashed a terrific hundred in the final T20I of their three-match series against Afghanistan.
Suryakumar has scored 2,141 runs in 60 T20I matches, averaging 45.55 while striking at 171.55.
