Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian captain, might not be in great form with the bat. Still, on January 21st, he could become the first Indian captain to play his 100th T20I as regular skipper of the national side. This is a record that hasn’t been achieved by even the greatest Indian captain of all time, MS Dhoni.
Not only Dhoni, but also superstars such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, couldn’t captain the side as a regular skipper while playing their 100th T20I.
Suryakumar Yadav surpasses Rohit Sharma’s record
Rohit played his 100th T20I in 2019. The right-hander even stood in as captain for the national side in place of Virat Kohli. The match took place at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, Gujarat.
However, Rohit was not the regular skipper of the side. Therefore, Suryakumar will be the first Indian to play his 100th T20i as the regular skipper of the team.
What about Kohli and Dhoni?
While Dhoni played only 98 matches and captained the side in 72 of them, Kohli played his 100th T20I against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022, and he scored a run-a-ball 35 against the arch-rivals.
What other records can be broken in this game by Surya?
If the Indian captain manages to score 25 runs during the first T20I against the Kiwis, he will become only the fourth Indian to reach the milestone of 4000 runs in T20s, behind the three top-order legends- Rohit, Virat, and Shikhar Dhawan.
Overall, 26 players have scored 9000 or more runs in T20os with Pakistan’s Babar Azam being the fastest. Babar reached the milestone in only his 245th innings. For Surya, he will be playing his 321st innings in T20s.
What’s at stake in T20Is?
More than anything else, it is India’s respect that is at stake after they were whitewashed in Tests and beaten 1-2 in ODIs. Now they would have to makes sure that they are not baten in T20Is too.