India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has become the fastest batter in men's 20-over international cricket history to get to 2,000 runs, in terms of balls faced. Suryakumar needed just 1,164 balls to get to the landmark, easily surpassing former Australia opener Aaron Finch's mark of 1,283 balls. The aggressive India batter scripted the record during the second T20I against South Africa in St George's Park, Gqeberha, on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (Match Blog | Streaming | Key Battles | 1st T20I Highlights)
At the start of the match, Suryakumar Yadav needed just 15 runs to get to 2,000-run landmark, and he got there off just eight balls. India lost two wickets inside the first two overs but captain 'SKY' walked in and rebuilt the innings, albeit in his trademark marauding fashion. He was batting on 37 off just 25 balls at the time of writing, with India at 78 runs for the loss of three wickets in 9.4 overs.
Earlier, South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second T20I of the three-match series against India. In a decision that surprised many, India left out Ravi Bishnoi, who was recently crowned the world No. 1 T20I bowler, in favour of left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
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Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was left out of the XI too. Meanwhile, India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was unavailable for selection due to illness and Shubman Gill came into the side in his place. Tilak Varma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj also made their way into the XI as Axar Patel and Avesh Khan were left out of the line-up.
After relentless rain washed out the first T20I, it seemed like downpour in Gqeberha will impact the toss in the second game too. But even though there was a steady drizzle before the toss, it thankfully subsided just in time as Markram spun the toss in the middle. However, the threat of rain does loom large for the rest of the day.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led India are fresh from a 4-1 triumph over Australia at home, and will be raring to replicate the feat in challenging South African conditions.
Playing XIs
India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Mukesh Kumar
South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Matthew Breetzke, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Lizaad Williams, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi
