Suryakumar Yadav, a star batsman for India, was named the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year on Wednesday in recognition of his absurdly impressive performance in the game’s shortest format. Suryakumar had a fantastic year in 2022, shattering numerous records and establishing a standard for the format. For the top prize, he bested players like Zimbabwe’s batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza, Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, and England’s all-rounder Sam Curran. Following his most recent accomplishment, the swashbuckling batter received accolades from former India cricketer Ashish Nehra, who claimed that he had defeated all “big-hitting guys.”
“He has played ODIs. He has played a few one-day games, but if he continues to perform at the level he is, it will naturally form a place for him in the XI. So if players are pushed to their limit with such performances, either they have to raise the bar or Suryakumar is always there to take place,” said Nehra to ICC.
Suryakumar Yadav, better known by his nickname “SKY,” finished the year as the greatest run-getter with 1164 runs at a strike rate of 187.43, becoming just the second batter in T20I history to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year. Surya comfortably struck the most sixes ever recorded in a calendar year in the history of the format with 68 during the course of the year.
“It is not surprising at all (Suryakumar being named ICC T20I Player of the Year 2022). This is such a Surya (Sun) that has shone consistently if you talk about the past year or two, irrespective of the conditions. Hopefully, he can carry forward this consistency because of the way he’s played in this fast-paced format and at such a high strike rate. It is worthy of praise. His confidence is spectacular. This is a fantastic achievement for any player because of how competitive the T20 format is. There are so many big-hitting players and big runs and yet Suryakumar has beaten them all,” added Nehra.