India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav etched his name in the record books by matching stalwart batter Virat Kohli’s record of most Player of the Match awards in the shortest format of cricket.
Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar’s era in T20I cricket began on a winning note as India clinched a 43-run win in the series opener.
The weight of the captaincy wasn’t enough for Suryakumar to change his dynamic style of play. With his usual swagger and out-of-the-box shot selection, the Indian skipper played a captain’s knock and garnered 58 runs off 26 balls at a whopping strike rate of 223.08.
After India went one up in the series, the 33-year-old batter was adjudged Player of the Match for the 16th time in T20I format in 69 matches.
He equalled Kohli’s haul, who also bagged 16 POTM awards in 125 matches in his illustrious career. Suryakumar will look to go past him in the upcoming two games against Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe’s seasoned all-rounder and T20I captain Sikandar Raza is in the third spot with 15 POTM awards to his name in 91 matches in the format.
Kohli announced his retirement from the format after playing a match-winning knock for the Rohit Sharma-led side in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados against South Africa.
He racked up 76 off 59 deliveries, which played a crucial role in propelling India’s score to a competitive total of 176/7.
India went on to end their 13-year-long ICC World Cup trophy drought by lifting the T20 title for the second time since the beginning of the tournament. For his valiant knock against the fierce Proteas bowling set-up, Kohli was crowned the POTM in his final T20I game.
Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, announced their decision to retire from the shortest format of cricket.
In the absence of the stalwart trio, youngsters starred for India by putting up a 213/7 against Sri Lanka. However, while defending their total, India got off to a jittery start with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis going berserk in the powerplay.
After Arshdeep Singh managed to get the breakthrough, Sri Lanka batters started to lose the plot and tumbled like a house of cards.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the series, India will play the second T20I against the hosts on Sunday. (ANI)
