The number one T20I batter in the world Suryakumar Yadav turned his form around with a scintillating knock of 83 off just 44 balls in the must-win clash between India and the West Indies in the third T20I in Guyana on Tuesday, August 8. Surya, who has been struggling with his form of late in white-ball cricket didn't need any sighters on Tuesday as even though he was a bit tentative against the spinners, he didn't let the pressure get to him and utilised the freebies from the pacers from the other end to get going.
After India lost both openers inside the powerplay, Surya got into his work quite quickly to get India on their way. Soon he was in his 40s as once he got his eyes in, the pitch, the match situation, or the bowlers didn't matter. Surya raced off to a 23-ball half-century before smashing his 100th six in T20Is and third of the innings.
Surya became the fastest Indian to reach the landmark of a century of sixes. He is second on the list overall in terms of innings as he reached the feat in 49 innings, which is equal to that of a certain Chris Gayle but behind Evin Lewis, who slammed his 100th six in just 42 innings. In terms of number of balls, Surya is third on the list behind Lewis (789) and Colin Munro (963) as he achieved it in 1007 deliveries, which is less than the number of balls taken by Gayle (1071) who is fourth on the list.
Most sixes in T20Is by Indian players
182 sixes - Rohit Sharma (140 innings)
117 sixes - Virat Kohli (107 innings)
101* sixes - Suryakumar Yadav (49 innings)
99 sixes - KL Rahul (68 innings)
74 sixes - Yuvraj Singh (51 innings)
68 sixes - Hardik Pandya (70 innings)
58 sixes - Suresh Raina (66 innings)
52 sixes - MS Dhoni (85 innings)
50 sixes - Shikhar Dhawan (66 innings)
Surya's innings helped India avoid a series defeat and stay alive in the five-match assignment with two games to go as West Indies are still ahead 2-1.
