Since making his India debut, Suryakumar Yadav has emerged as a revelation, securing his spot in the T20I team and rising to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings.

The late-blooming batter has all the tools at his disposal and even a few extra ones, but it’s not only the stroke play that sets him apart as a player; it’s also his surprising consistency when it comes to scoring runs.

The India international has a history of scoring at a world-class strike rate and passing 50 runs. Furthermore, Yadav is a remarkable and happy exception to the rule in a format where high averages and quick scoring rates are rarely found together.

Although the 32-year-old, also known as SKY, is not a boom-or-bust player, there are nonetheless some particularly notable failures among his regularly excellent scores.

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We examine his top five T20 International innings to date for India: 

1. At Nottingham, England, in July 2022, he scored 117 from 55 balls.

Comfortably At Trent Bridge, Yadav recorded his greatest individual T20I score in an ultimately futile attempt to overtake England’s mammoth 215/7 first-innings tally. In his spectacular 117, Sky hit 20 boundaries, including six maximums, while destroying a potent England attack with similar zeal. His feat was made all the more remarkable by the fact that not a single other India batter appeared to be able to hit the ball off the square; only three other players reached double figures in the final total of 198/9, with Shreyas Iyer coming in second place with 28 from 23.

2. 68 off of 40 vs South Africa in Perth, October 2022

After a match in which India lost to South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 stage, former India batter Gautam Gambhir praised Yadav’s 68 as the best T20 innings he had ever seen.

The result might have been much, much worse if it weren’t for the number four’s brilliant management of an innings that was on the verge of collapse. Only two other players reached double figures, and Rohit Sharma, who finished second with 15 points, was the only other player to achieve double digits. It was already noteworthy that SKY contributed more than half of his team’s runs in a first-innings total of 133/9; but, he did so while maintaining a 170 batting average despite wickets falling all around him. Another outstanding effort from the player who has earned the label “mentality monster.”

3. 51 from 25 balls against the Netherlands in Sydney in October 2022

On the biggest platform, you introduce yourself in that manner.

In the second group game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Yadav lit the blue touch paper as India was well-positioned but scoring more slowly than they would have liked against the Netherlands.

SKY raced to an unbroken half-century quickly and without even having to hit the stands more than once, finishing with a strike rate of 204.

He entered the game with the score at 84/2 at the conclusion of the 12th over, but his team’s surge to a total of 179/2 proved to be too much for the opposition.

4. England, March 2021, Ahmedabad, 57 from 31 balls

In his very first game wearing the blue of the India men’s national team, SKY faced off against England, and he immediately had an effect for his nation.

Yadav entered the Powerplay at number three and immediately launched an attack, maintaining the same approach and style that had led to his initial call-up. After hitting three sixes and six fours in the span of just 31 balls, he quickly reached his first of many half-centuries before returning to the pavilion.

It was a knock that caused the white ball, which was being used by a speed-heavy England attack, to go everywhere.

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5. West Indies, Basseterre, August 2022, 76 from 44 balls

Yadav, who was promoted as an opener, came out firing to put India on top early in their pursuit of 165 to defeat West Indies. With a breathtaking assortment of shots that sent the ball flying to all areas on a bouncy track in Basseterre, not even the sight of skipper Rohit Sharma exiting the field with a back injury could stop him. When Yadav was dismissed while attempting the 13th boundary, the game had already been essentially won by him, making it simple for the rest of his squad to do the job with time to spare.