Virat Kohli’s world record was matched by India’s T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, in around half the time.
Suryakumar Yadav, India’s recently appointed T20I captain, made a strong start to his career as the team’s full-time captain by convincingly winning the opening game of the series. Team India led by its captain Suryakuma amassed a massive 213/7, which was good enough to defeat the Lankans by 43 runs. During his time in the middle, Surya amassed 58 runs off of 26 balls and was essential in setting the game’s pace. Surya demonstrated his strategic approach admirably even in his role as captain, which helped the squad start the tour with a victory. Consequently, Surya was declared the Player of the Match, a distinction that allowed him to tie Virat Kohli’s record.With this T20 international, Suryakumar currently holds a tie for the most Player of the Match honors ever. On the other hand, it took him just 69 matches—compared to Virat’s 125—to equal Kohli’s record.
After winning his last Player of the Match award in the T20 World Cup 2024 championship match, Virat declared his retirement from the fastest format of international cricket.
Most POTM awards in T20Is:
Suryakumar Yadav (India) – 16 (in 69 matches)
Virat Kohli (India) – 16 (in 125 matches)
Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) – 15 (in 91 matches)
Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) – 14 (in 129 matches)
Rohit Sharma (India) – 14 (in 159 matches)
During the post-match presentation ceremony, Surya complimented the Sri Lankan squad on their midfield work.
“From the first ball, they were playing a good kind of cricket. They deserve praise for maintaining the tempo. We are aware of how the wicket behaves at night. Luckily for us, there was no dew. Our World Cup performance served as a reminder that the game was still too far away. We’ll take the call on whatever works best for the squad,” Suryakumar declared following the match.
Charith Asalanka, the captain of Sri Lanka, won the toss and chose to bowl first in the opening Twenty20 International.
India scored 213/7 in 20 overs while batting first, with to blowouts from Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Despite conceding 40 runs in his four overs, Matheesha Pathirana emerged as the most effective bowler for Sri Lanka, taking four wickets. Dilshan Madhushanka, Asitha Fernando, and Haseanga each claimed one wicket during their respective periods.
In 19.2 overs, the hosts were dismissed for 170 runs while chasing a massive total of 214. Now up 1-0 in the three-match series, the Men in Blue have prevailed.
With a solid innings of 79 runs off of 48 balls, including seven fours and four sixes, Pathum Nissanka, the team’s opener, scored the greatest runs.With the aid of seven fours and a six, Kushal Mendis, the wicketkeeper-battler, also hit a vital forty-five runs from just 27 balls. These two were the only batters in the match that were able to leave their imprint.
Spinner Riyan Parag led all Indian wicket-takers with 17. In his 1.2 overs, he claimed three wickets while only allowing five runs to be scored. In their individual periods, Mohammed Siraj and Ravi Bishnoi each claimed one wicket, while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel claimed two wickets apiece.
