"Suryakumar Yadav has reinvented the batting template of T20 cricket" - Saba Karim

Former wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim has reserved high praise on Team India's Suryakumar Yadav for his spectacular performances in T20 cricket this year.

During a discussion on India News Sports, Karim highlighted how other teams are also keen to learn from Suryakumar. He noted that while Ab de Villiers has been an inspiration in the format, the Indian batter has also reached the same level thanks to his dynamic strokeplay.

Karim explained:

"Suryakumar Yadav has reinvented the batting template of T20 cricket with his performances. This is the first time that other teams are looking at an Indian batter to learn how to bat in the shortest format. Up until now, we used to give the example of Ab de Villiers. Now, it's Suryakumar who has shown others how to bat in T20s."

Notably, Suryakumar has been the top performer with the bat for Men in Blue in the game's shortest format this year. The right-handed batter currently occupies the top spot in the ICC's rankings for batters in T20Is.

Furthermore, no other batter has scored more runs than him in T20Is this year. The 31-year-old has 1164 runs to his name from 31 outings at a fantastic strike rate of 187.43. He hit two centuries and nine cities in the format in 2022.

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"Suryakumar Yadav deserves to win" - Reetinder Singh Sodhi on Indian batter being nominated for ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year award

Speaking in the same video, former India all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi also lauded Suryakumar Yadav for his batting exploits in T20Is this year.

Suryakumar has been rewarded for his phenomenal performances by the ICC as the Apex Council has nominated him for the T20I Cricketer of the Year award.

Sodhi suggested that the batter deserves to win the prestigious prize, given how he has taken some of the best bowlers to the cleaners.

Sodhi elaborated:

"Suryakumar Yadav deserves to win the award. He has been a champion when it comes to T20 cricket, coming up with superlative performances consistently. He has hurt some of the top bowling attacks with his strokeplay. Nobody would have predicted that Suryakumar is going to carve a niche for himself in international cricket this soon."

Other nominees for the ICC T20I Player of the Year award are Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), and Sam Curran (England).